


Stupid Bets (Or, The Week Touya Akira Wore Drag)

by headraline



Category: Hikaru no Go
Genre: Crossdressing, Drag, Fluff, Humor, M/M, boy/boy, general stupidness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-09-28 16:44:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 37,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10139507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/headraline/pseuds/headraline
Summary: "Oh, please. Touya could come in here every day dressed in full drag and still wipe the floor with everyone up to 7th dan.”"...is that a challenge?"----------------------Welp. This is me, bored just before leaving for work. Let's see if I can't breathe some more life into this old fandom.





	1. The challenge

May the 5th doesn’t hurt so much anymore. It has been a while, and now, out of the teens and pushing 20, Shindou Hikaru doesn’t feel so lost anymore. He has a rival who saw him for himself, an exciting career of constantly moving forward, stronger opponents coming from all sides, and a trusty memento to never forget the one who started it all.

He wondered idly what Sai would say of the way he and Touya were shouting at each other at the moment, but his old friend would probably chuckle behind his fan and chastise him for being loud.

“Fine! Be that way, then! I’m _not_ staying to discuss it if you won’t even take this seriously!” it was rare for Akira to be the one to storm out, but not unprecedented. They crossed paths at the Institute, after they both got done surprisingly quick with their respective games for the day, and decided to open a foldable goban in the lunch room for a quick game of speed-go.

Needless to say, all hell broke loose straight after _yose_.

Touya hadn’t even made his way completely out the door before Waya plopped down right beside Hikaru.

“Well. That was a thing. Can’t say I blame you though, Shindou. I mean, there’s a limit to how seriously you can take a guy dressed like _that_.”

 _“Excuse me?”_ Waya’s unrepentant dislike for Touya was no secret, but still. An open and gratuitous insult like that is weird, and the young prodigy himself gets caught off-guard enough to linger in the room.

Okay, so maybe Waya _is_ a little salty about how good these two were getting, chasing each other around the goban like that –one glance at their most recent and quite furious game is enough to spook the camo off his pants – and was in the mood of poking a bit of fun at Touya’s expense; especially since most pros of their same age more or less covertly agree that Touya dresses like an old man, but with the color scheme of an old cat lady.

Still, the look of utter betrayal on the subject of said fun was almost enough for Waya to apologize, but he is a split second too late, as Shindou leaps to his rival’s defence without Akira even uttering one word: “Oh please. Don’t make that mistake Waya, Touya could come in here every day dressed _in full drag_ and still wipe the floor with everyone up to 7th dan.”

The mental image alone is enough to completely derail Waya’s train of thought and send him into guffaws. “Oh my God!” he exclaimed, still laughing, “Yeah sure. Whatever you say Shindou. I’d love to see it happening.”

“Is that a _challenge_?” both young pros made the fatal mistake of forgetting that Touya Akira, son of former Meijin Touya Kouyo, and all-around genius who _never_ backed down from a fight, is still in the room and heard every. Single. Word. As did everybody else in the lunch room, and they all were preparing for the younger Touya to descend upon Shindou and send body parts flying.

Truthfully enough, Waya sobered up pretty fast under the sharp emerald gaze Shindou had long since become seemingly immune to. “Well— um… I—”

Touya’s gaze does not falter, but his words aren’t what the onlookers were expecting. “So be it. How does one full week sound?” He said, with an air of finality that makes even Shindou drop his jaw, “Tomorrow’s games will be interesting. I’ll see the both of you tomorrow.”

The entire lunchroom is stunned into silence as this time Akira left for good, at least for the day.

“What just happened? Oh God, what did I do?” Hikaru couldn’t quite believe his rival would take his off-hand comment that much to heart. It was really Waya’s fault.

Isumi, who had been content with just eating his lunch silently until that moment, tries and fails to hide a smile behind his chopsticks. “You just made the next week quite exciting to look forward to.”

_~tbc?~_


	2. Day 1 - Raven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So… what do you think? Too much?” 
> 
> “I— you— what?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so. I should take the time to say a couple things.  
> First off: this is grossly unbeta'ed and my tenses are literally all over the place.
> 
> Second: this first dress design here is of my own making, I made a rough sketch of what it's supposed to look like if anyone needs a more visual aid: http://orig04.deviantart.net/9d40/f/2017/065/8/0/dress_idea_1_by_headraline-db1gf6q.jpg  
> I have this idea in mind that if Akira were to crossdress, he'd be fancy as fuck, but still super-classy. Plus, by bet rules he can't get away with neutral-looking clothes like, I don't know, a women's suit (those do exist); it has to be explicitly female looking and over the top.  
> So yeah. Fancy, slightly lolita-esque Akira it is.
> 
> I've literally been sitting on this fic idea for like a decade, ever since the manga came out. I've had time to plan things out.

The games weren’t even beginning yet, and the lobby was already buzzing with anticipation –after all, the world of Go professionals is not only quite small, but rather dull as well, or at least it was until the “new wave” came in with its irreverent teenagers and strange antics. Needless to say, rumor spread fast, and now everyone was curious to see if the young Touya would honor the challenge.

Even Hikaru, known for cutting it close to his matches, is early today, jittery like he hadn’t been in a long time.

When Akira enters the Institute, nothing seemed immediately out of the ordinary and Waya was almost ready to call him out about being “too chicken”, but his mouth snaps shut when the 6th dan shrugs off his coat and puts it on the hanger by the door.

The dress is simple and tasteful, a black A-cut with emerald frills on the end that make it well past the knee, skirt flowy and slightly wide, contrasting with the form-fitting upper body, tightened up by dark green lace criss-crossing in thin lines along the midriff sides and matched on the sleeves. That in and on itself was already enough of an absolutely absurd apparition to leave Hikaru speechless but obviously –obviously – his rival wouldn’t half-ass anything, not even _this_ , so _of course_ he is also wearing sheer black stockings with dark green frills disappearing into shiny black doll-shoes, but has also gone the extra mile and even has the tiniest hint of make-up on: just a touch of dark smoky at the corner of his eyes and a tiny bit of… something that, albeit colorless, made his lips look a bit shinier.

 _‘What the hell, he even accessorized.’_ Shindou eyes the deep emerald hairclip pinning Akira’s hair to the side on the left, exposing part of his usually hidden neck, and distractedly wonders if somebody turned the air-con just a bit too high or if the weather is suddenly getting hotter.

“Well I’ll be damned.” Ogata is the first one to comment, passing the young Touya after giving the young prodigy a long silent look, and Hikaru feels slightly robbed of… something. One would think eternal rivals get dibs on the first impression. Or something.

But then he has a strange surge of pride at the unimpressed look Touya shoots at the older pro, as he uttered only one response: “Yes, you most likely will be. Good morning, Ogata-sensei.”

Off to the side Waya finally managed to tear his jaw off the floor and sputter out a laugh –and even though Hikaru himself didn’t quite get it, innuendo going over his head through simple conviction that Touya Akira wasn’t capable of such thing; he feels his lips curve slightly upwards, because his friend showed humor about something his rival said.

Progress, right?

Ogata doesn’t seem too offended and ushers Touya in with a “Knock ‘em dead, doll.” which Akira largely ignored in favour of –finally – meeting his rival.

“Hey, Shindou.” Not ‘greetings’. Not ‘good morning’. He is the one person Touya is willing to forgo formalities for –they never were formal with each other to begin with, but today feels… different. Touya looked almost shy.

Oh, he is often shy, he doesn’t like crowds and doesn’t like people fretting over him regardless of how much praise they bestowed upon him; but this is a different kind of shy, and Shindou doesn’t quite know how to read it. It makes _him_ shy in reflex. He had expected Touya to look ridiculous. He _should_ look ridiculous. Instead there he is, looking not only perfectly presentable and not crass at all, but also kind of prettier than any _real_ girl Hikaru has ever met. His brain is confused and the response to Touya’s greeting is hesitant and delayed. “H… hi Touya.”

“So… what do you think? Too much?” Akira asks, if only to break the awkward silence, and for added input he does a little twirl on himself.

Which is the moment Shindou notices the back of the dress is of see-through black veil in a deep “U”, only covered with decorative black lace vaguely taking the shape of a raven connecting the shoulders. Still, you could see most of Touya’s bare back underneath the see-through material.

That, for some reason, made Hikaru’s mouth go even dryer. A traitorous part of his brain that he didn’t even know he possessed comments that the dark sheer material and the black lace compliments Akira’s pale skin quite nicely. “I— you— what?” try as he might, coherent sentences are beyond him for the moment.

For whatever reason, Akira’s face seemed to fall slightly at his rival’s failure to give an opinion. “Does it look that bad?”

Isumi finally took pity on Shindou’s unintelligible babble and sweeps in, arm slung around his friend’s shoulder. “Not at all, Touya-kun. I think Shindou’s just having a hard time processing.” Funny you should use that word, Shinichiro, it really is sad Hikaru’s mind literally is not complying, otherwise there would have been jokes for weeks. “You pull it off surprisingly well. The color scheme really suits you.”

At this point, Waya has fixated a wide-eyed look on Shindou and seems on the verge of collapsing with barely contained laughter. Touya seemed unconvinced, but nods his thanks to Isumi and moves to go further into the Institute. “…okay, well. I have a match to attend.”

“It looks really good on you!” Akira slightly froze once Hikaru managed to find his voice –and Shindou frankly wants to slap himself because _‘What the hell was that?’_ He should have said it right after he was asked the question, instead of waiting past the moment to just blurt it out like an idiot as his rival moved away. In front of Waya and Fuku no less. Man, they’re never gonna let him live it down, especially Waya. And yet, it was worth it in the end, because Hikaru sees the tension in Touya’s shoulders ease slightly, as he mumbled a thank you and skittered off. Whether it was the skirt or it had always been there at the back of his head, Shindou now has the renewed urge to take Akira’s side in this whole ordeal –if only to see him smile again in that getup.

…wait, what?

 

Predictably, the young prodigy is just as vicious in a dress as he was in suits, and he absolutely butchered his opponent for the day on the goban. If possible, he was even more ruthless after his opponent, a rather promising but not quite solid yet 5th dan, kept playing even though he was only laying down losing hands, seemingly unwilling to give up so blatantly to a man in a skirt.

The very thought made Touya’s blood boil, and he decided, courtesy be damned, to take the opening on the centre and make it impossible for the man to continue without making a complete ass of himself. An elegantly arched eyebrow later, coupled with the icy silence only Touyas are capable of, and the overdue resignation finally came.

“Holy crap.” He hears a voice that sounded suspiciously like Waya somewhere behind him as he went to record the win. He normally disliked raining down that hard on an opponent already well on the way to defeat, but the man’s reluctance to give up to his skirt just made him so angry.

It kinda makes him wonder if female pros have to endure this lack of respect every day, on the only fault of not having a penis. Soon enough, a couple more people are inspecting his game, opponent long gone as he probably excused himself away.

“See? What did I tell you, Waya? He absolutely demolished this douchebag, skirt or no skirt.”

 _‘Thanks for the vote of confidence, Shindou, but Waya-kun was partially right.’_ And Hikaru’s friend does point at the goban, retort right on his mouth:

“Yeah well, anyone against Touya Akira would have resigned some fifteen hands ago. This guy clearly wasn’t cowering with the usual amount of fear.”

Strangely enough, Nase, a lady friend Akira himself wasn’t quite well acquainted with, jumps in the conversation and answers Akira’s private musings in the process. “That’s just because it was a male opponent. Guys are always reluctant to accept defeat gracefully against anything in a skirt.” She snorts good naturedly but her following comment has just a hint of bitterness to it, “I swear, some people’s masculinity is so fragile… you’d think they’re compensating for something.”

Hikaru gets up from where he had been studying the board and blinks almost owlishly at Nase. “But that’s stupid… why would it matter whether you’re playing a guy or girl?” he asks, genuinely wondering what incompetent player would make such a mistake, “Doesn’t that set you up for defeat? Go is go, if the person in front of you plays a good game, you treat it like a good game, otherwise why the heck even play at all?”

The girl’s expression softens as she smiles at Hikaru: “Not everyone has tunnel Go-vision like you and your rival.” She remarks, shrugging their shoulders, “Some people care about… I don’t know, their standing, or something like that. And in a game so predominantly populated by guys, being defeated by a girl, or even worse, by a boy dressed as a girl…”

Nase shakes her head and leaves the sentence hanging; then moves to leave the room and passes Akira by as she does: “You know, even if this started as a stupid bet, you might just become the paladin of women’s voices in the Go world.” And with a pat on the shoulder for the now stupefied and confused prodigy, she’s gone.

Patting down the creases in his skirt, Akira ponders Nase’s words, confused but also intrigued by the new perspective on go and its nuances that he just discovered, but decides to take a deep breath and turn to join the two still arguing pros. They respectfully moved away from the playing room and well into the lobby, and yet their bickering was loud enough. Which kinda makes the young Touya feel like a pot with two very loud kettles to call out, considering his history with Hikaru, but still. “Guys. Please. Let’s just say today got a point to each, and keep the rest of the tally for tomorrow. Yeah?”

Seeing his rival speak softly but firmly, right hand raised and slightly touching the temple, Hikaru just knows. “Oh. I guess playing that idiot gave you a migraine?”

Waya looks confusedly from one to the other, and for a moment wonders how do any of their games even reach yose, considering how well they read each other _off_ the goban. And then wonders if Touya’s dress is magical or something, because seeing these two be civil to each other for so long is very, very rare. _‘Maybe Touya is secretly a magical princess.’_ He muses, biting back that remark behind his lips and wisely keeping the thought for himself.

He does exchange a glance with Isumi, though, which reciprocates the smile with a slightly more knowing look and shrugs, with a raised eyebrow at the pair.

“Shindou…” Akira really wanted to admonish him for calling his opponent names, but… well, he would be lying. So he settled for just lightly shaking his head. “I hope you recognize my efforts here. I’m rising to a challenge that tumbled out of _your_ fool mouth.”

The harshness of the comment didn’t quite reach his face, though, and Hikaru’s stomach did a weird flip at being on the receiving end of a genuine Touya-smile. Not the polite, _“I couldn’t give any less shits if I tried but I’mma be nice to you because social etiquette says so”_ –Touya; not the _“I’m uncomfortable so I’m smiling in the hopes that you get the hint and get out of my face as soon as possible”_ –Touya, but a genuine, honest-to-God amused Touya.

“Yeah well. Just keep winning and you’ll prove my point. Lunch?”

Touya was already halfway thinking a retort to what he expected to be a mocking remark, so the invitation leaves him startled. “Well, I— what?”

“Lunch. Food, Touya. You get it in your mouth, then down into your belly, so you don’t starve.” Hikaru explained, not without some good natured teasing, “It’s something us mortals do. And I bet you didn’t go out during break. So, lunch? My treat, come on.” He then turns to Waya and Isumi, who had been still watching them the whole time. “You guys coming?”

“Sure, as long as it’s not ramen.” Is Waya’s predictable response, and as Hikaru concedes and starts talking about a fast food not too far from there, he is left walking alongside his rival in a sort of dumbfounded stupor, not having vocally accepted but not having refused either, and since Shindou just assumed his silence meant yes, he finds himself going along –if anything because addressing the topic made him realize that he really could go for some food about now.

Still… the question buzzing in his head remains: _‘Did Shindou just ask me out to lunch?’_

Not being able to decide whether it’s just the dress that made it weird, or the hint of protectiveness in Shindou’s voice, Akira decides to simply not think about it.

Whatever this awkward feeling is, it’ll go away soon enough, right?

…right?

 

Strangely enough, despite normally not liking to be in close quarters with other people, Akira stuck close to his rival and acquaintances on the entire way to the fast food; which not only led to a silent conversation between Waya and Isumi made solely of shared looks that made Hikaru _very_ curious about whatever those two know that he doesn’t; but also made him worry a little bit about Touya.

“Something the matter?” he asks, after the third time Akira not so subtly glances around, like he’s half-expecting something to approach him.

“Well…” the young prodigy hugs his own arms as he answers: “You guys might not believe it, but on my way to the Institute this morning I was actually mistaken for a girl several times… some people just complimented my dress, but a couple others said… things I’d rather not repeat.”

Shindou doesn’t have the time to stop Waya from asking a dumb question, and is already picturing an actual fistfight when Yoshitaka voices what they’re all thinking but didn’t dare say: “Why shouldn’t we believe it? You _do_ look like a girl. I’m more surprised someone actually had the balls to hit on you than anything else.”

 _‘Goddamn it Waya, he doesn’t need_ more _reasons to think you’re an ass.’_ Hikaru visibly facepalms, and his hand covers both eyes as he does so, so he only hears Touya’s reaction.

Which, contrary to all expectations, is a snort of suppressed laughter. “Guess I did my homework well, didn’t I?”

Of freaking _course_. Trust Touya Akira to be freaking proud of being mistaken for a girl if looking girly was the purpose of his endeavour. Never half-assing indeed. Isumi chuckles approvingly.

“I have to say, for a guy known for being always a serious, no-nonsense person—” he gets briefly interrupted by Waya, who ‘corrects’ him with a “You mean a _boring_ person!” but Shinichiro ignores him and carries on, “You’re really being a good sport about the whole thing.”

Akira shrugs, relaxing a bit in his posture. “I was very insecure at first, but then I spoke to my father on the phone—”

“Wait, wait, you told your _dad_ you’d be crossdressing?!”

Once again, poor Waya gets ignored as the explanation goes on: “—and he commented that it might turn out to be an enlightening experiment: used as I am to people treating me with a certain level of… deference, I might grow complacent. Instead, putting myself in a situation out of my comfort zone, I’ll be forced to always be at the top of my game and learn how to be confident in my own skin all over again. And it might even strengthen my play in the process.”

Well, at least that answers Waya’s question. _‘How did Nase put it? Tunnel Go-vision is right…’_ the brunet shakes his head. “You’re… full of surprises, Touya.”

At that point, Hikaru was just about ready to whip out his phone and snap a picture of the historical moment that is Waya paying Touya somewhat of a genuine compliment… oh, the blackmail that it would be with Morishita-sensei… but alas, he lets it slide, in favour of actually entering the place where they’re gonna eat.

True to his word, Hikaru insists for paying Akira’s lunch –which consists of a serving of those chicken nuggets that are tiny enough so that you can eat them without making a mess, a side of fries and a soft drink, just when he thought the other couldn’t get any girlier– so now they’re all sitting at a table, Waya and Isumi on one side and the two of them on the other, eating and talking casually like any group of friends. Shindou is actually pretty proud of both Waya and Touya for actually trying to get to know each other; after all, one is his life-long rival and the other is his best friend… he just wants everybody to get along.

It’s when Hikaru is finally relaxing and enjoying himself that something, or rather someone, arrives to ruin this fun little outing:

“Hey babe, what’s a classy girl like you doing with this bunch of dorks?” this time it’s happening before their eyes. A guy, around Isumi’s age, maybe slightly older, with his hair dyed deep red and a lip piercing, is shamelessly trying to ‘pick up’ Akira. “Why don’t you ditch them and come with me? I can show you a good time.”

 _‘The nerve of this dude!’_ Hikaru feels a surge of outrage. It’s probably because the guy has literally no regard for the people Akira is having lunch with and is being staggeringly rude –and it’s saying something, coming from him. Also, a tiny part of his mind supplies, who the fuck does he think he is, speaking to his rival like that? He bristles and stands up to face the offending presence, silently enjoying the realization that, even if by a small margin, he’s taller than the intruder and can tower over him.

“We’re having lunch here, pal. If you think you can waltz in here and talk about my friends like this, you can fu—”

Shindou’s rant is interrupted by Akira, who promptly stands up as well and force-feeds him one of his fries to shut him up mid-sentence. Hazel eyes look confusedly at him behind bleached bangs, but the young prodigy keeps his hand on Hikaru’s mouth and imperceptibly shakes his head no, before turning to the guy who approached him.

“I am… flattered…” he says, putting an emphasis on the last word that clearly states that he’s really not, as he looks disdainfully at the man who thinks he can approach someone so crudely and actually get a lady to say yes, “But, as you can see, I’m spoken for.” For realism, he puts his other hand on Shindou’s forearm to clarify his point, for once counting as a blessing the fact that, despite puberty being mostly over and done with, he’s been left with a somewhat still androgynous voice. “Oh, and words of advice: next time you want to impress a girl, I suggest you _don’t_ insult her choice of company. Now if you would excuse us, we’re having lunch.”

In the meantime, Isumi is struggling to contain his laughter and Waya is watching incredulously from Hikaru to Akira and back. He had to admit, that with Touya’s getup being what it is, and Shindou’s casual but not overly so white button up, left open over a somewhat tight black shirt and dark denims, the two rivals really could pass for a couple.

 _‘That’ll be the day.’_ He thinks, smirking to himself, _‘Man, this is so much more fun than I thought it’d be!’_

Floored by Akira’s words and now with other patrons staring at him in distaste, piercing dude has no choice but to back off as quickly and as silently as possible, and the young prodigy breathes a sigh of relief as he sits back down. Shindou seems still confused by the entire exchange, so much so that he’s still standing and looking at Touya with this look, hovering somewhere between clueless and still outraged.

“What the heck was that?” he hisses in his rival’s direction, “Did you— did you just _use me as a shield_ to blow off that guy?”

“Um, yeah?” ah, the are-you-seriously-asking-oh-god-why-are-you-so-dumb look, finally an expression on Touya’s face that Hikaru is very familiar with. Some part of him thinks he should be concerned with how well he knows Touya’s micro-expressions, but the other continues: “We’re still close enough to the Institute that some people could recognise you. I don’t want you to cause any scenes on my behalf.”

“ _That_ ’s what you’re worried about?” The 5th dan can’t decide whether to be grateful for Akira’s consideration of him or pissed because it’s a stupid-ass reason not to let himself be protected. Waya’s poorly concealed giggles are not helping. “That guy could’ve— I mean, I would’ve— you shouldn’t—”

“Hikaru… please?” the sound of his given name promptly shuts him up. “Don’t worry… I can handle myself.”

He _did_ handle himself quite impressively just now. With no argument left, Hikaru sits back down slightly deflated –fine, it’s not like he actually _wants_ to be Akira’s knight in shining armour or anything – but it doesn’t last long, as he feels more than sees Touya bump shoulders with him slightly:

“…but hey. Thanks nonetheless.”

It’s there again, the very tiniest upward tilt to those lips as the prodigy subtly smiles at him in an annoyingly self-satisfied expression that Hikaru would be angry at if it wasn’t so cute on him.

And yes, Hikaru had come to terms long ago with the fact that Touya is annoyingly cute –not that he’d say it to his face. He’d never been able to stay mad at him for too long, not during fights over go, not through childish banter degenerating into straight-up schoolyard bickering, not ever… it’d be either a flicker of his eyes, or a gesture with those infuriatingly graceful hands, or even a toss of his stupid silky hair, and all anger would leave Shindou in a ‘whoosh’ that left his stomach with the same weird flip from this morning.

It’s actually the weirdest thing, it only happens around Touya.

Luckily, they can all enjoy the rest of their meal in peace, and it’s only when they’re about to go their separate ways that Hikaru has something on the tip of his tongue, something that is either “I worry that someone else will approach you when you’re alone and they won’t be as peaceful” or “I don’t want to say goodbye yet”; unfortunately he can’t quite decide on which, and Touya ends up deciding for him.

Waya and Isumi have already taken their leave, and to add oddity to oddity, the older of the two clapped him on the back and wished him good luck. For what, Hikaru isn’t quite sure.

“Well. Day one down, six more to go. I can’t wait for tomorrow.” Akira says, drawing the inevitable question from the other’s mouth:

“Why’s that?”

Touya’s barely-there smile takes an almost mischievous glint. “…I get better looking every day.”

“What?”

“Bye, Shindou.” The young prodigy takes off before Hikaru can properly process his joke or even remember the true answer to the question, and the half-blond is left there to watch his rival’s retreating back, until…

…wait for it…

 _‘Wait. We have a_ match _tomorrow!’_ there we go. There’s a split second where his stomach does the flip thing again, but Hikaru squishes it down this time. _‘Oh, if you think I’m gonna be distracted you’re mistaken. I’m gonna give you what for, I don’t care how pretty you are!’_

New resolution firmly planted in his head, Hikaru finally turns to head home for the time being, maybe study some kifus to prep himself for tomorrow.

Can’t wait indeed…

 

_~tbc~_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! You made it all the way to the end of the first chapter! Yay~
> 
> As some of you may have guessed, every outfit for each day is gonna have a theme. The theme for this one was "raven" and I sort of pulled it outta my ass, but I wanna involve you guys, sooo...  
> the theme for the next day is "absynthe" (yes, the green hallucinogen that people in the 1800s drank), and I have a selection of dresses I have to choose between as a reference:  
> 1 - http://static.robertocavalli.com/media/catalog/product/cache/0/image/2000x3000/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/D/W/DWT169EYA62_09063_2_6.jpg  
> 2 - https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/e9/16/56/e916561effffcb37ff4586422663f321.jpg  
> 3 - http://s3cdn-lookbooknu.netdna-ssl.com/files/looks/large/2014/02/02/3541974_open-uri20140202-5773-qirsmu.jpg?1391369558  
> 4 - http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=57987326
> 
> write in the comments the number for your favourite dress if you wanna help me choose~  
> welp, there we go it's 3 am now here so I'mma scuttle off to bed bye!


	3. Day 2 - Absynthe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Do you want me to go? I can—”
> 
> “Stay!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, chapter three~
> 
> So! Shoutout to littlemisspsycho, who is the only kind soul that answered my question about Touya's dress for the day and generally put up with this trainwreck so far.  
> I'm having so much fun.
> 
> today's winner: http://static.robertocavalli.com/media/catalog/product/cache/0/image/2000x3000/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/D/W/DWT169EYA62_09063_2_6.jpg
> 
> Even though this is still unbeta'ed and my tenses are most definitely still somewhat fucked up.  
> Enjoy.

Emerald eyes fixed themselves into the mirror as Akira got ready to get out.

“I can do this.” He breathes deeply to himself. No matter how many times he plays against Hikaru and how toe-to-toe they’ve been advancing on and off the go board, the thrill of the fight was as fresh as it was the first time he played Shindou after he came back from Innoshima, some four years ago now. “I can do this.”

Brushing both hands through his hair to calm himself down, the prodigy gives himself one last once-over. Just last week, Shindou had broken his winning streak by surprising him with a completely insane game that had him almost shouting at the other right then and there for the sheer absurdity of some of his hands, with only his deep respect for the Institute and what it represents restraining him.

Not that it saved either of them from shouting at each other later, at the Touya go salon while recreating and discussing the game. Ichikawa-san actually got out of the reception desk to bap them both over the head and tell them to cool it off. _‘You win some and lose some.’_ He reminds himself, and he learned a lot from that game anyway so it wasn’t at all a pointless endeavour.

Back to the matter at hand, Touya brushes his fingers over his chest, as if that would calm his frantic heartbeat. There’s always this rush, around everything concerning Shindou –it makes him nervous, throwing him off-balance. Maybe it’s because they’re so different; himself being the normally calm and well-educated one, while Shindou is the wild, unconventional and entirely too chaotic force of nature that he is.

When he called Shindou that to his face, once, the lunatic took it as a compliment –though, if Akira were to be completely honest to himself, maybe it is. Still.

Today is the day. A heap of fabric is not going to get in his way of claiming back his victory.

 

He was expecting to turn eyes once he reached the Institute, so that doesn’t faze him too much –word had already got out the very day the bet was made, and his debut with yesterday’s black dress probably finished the job in spreading the tale of the absolutely stupid lengths he is willing to go to in order to prove exactly how _nothing_ can affect his Go prowess.

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?” however, Ogata-sensei’s question catches him off-guard, as he ran into him again in the lobby.

“Doing what on purpose, Ogata-sensei?” he asked, not sure what the older pro was hinting at with that critical look –then again, he’s always been a peculiar man; few words for himself but deep insights, which makes him a monster on the goban, disclosing very little and tearing apart opponents from the shadows. “Do you have any matches, today?”

The Juudan shakes his head. “A demonstration.” He answers, without elaborating much, before sidestepping so he’s behind Touya, “And I’m talking about _this._ ” he pokes the younger pro between the shoulder blades, where his skin was left exposed again by an opening in today’s dress design.

Touya nearly jumps out of his own skin in surprise, and it just so happens that his rival has made his entrance just in time to witness the exchange. Hikaru’s hands close into fists at the urge of punching the man in the face, while Akira instinctively backs away from Ogata and towards him.

“I’d appreciate it if you refrained from doing that.” The young prodigy says, respectfully but with just enough of an icy tone that says touch-me-again-and-you’ll-regret-it (again, an expression and tone Hikaru is very familiar with); while Shindou himself has no qualms about not keeping up manners and takes a step forward, speaking up in all his candour:

“You’re turning into a dirty old creep, Ogata-san.” He says, deliberately forgetting the honorific, “I’d watch it if I were you, this might be Kuwabara-sensei rubbing off on you.”

The pair of them scuttle off deeper into the institute between whispers of “Shindou, that was inappropriate!” and “So what? He’s a creep!”; and Seiji is left both amused at the boys’ antics and mildly disturbed by the realization that Shindou might actually have a point there. He shakes his head and vows to start pinching himself every time he realizes he’s acting like that old coot.

 

“Hey there, you two!” surprisingly enough, Nase is the one to greet the two rivals first. “Oh my god, Touya-kun that is beautiful! Let me know where you got it when you can, would you?”

Today’s dress is a vibrant green one, loosely fit around the chest but with a cinched and ruffled waist, all made of deep green silk, ankle-long and flowy. The fabric is enriched with yellowish embroidered patterns, forming a mixture of dragons and leaves, along the bottom of the skirt, the sleeves, and all over the back –split open by a triangular slit offering a nice view of Akira’s bare back without losing any of its elegance, while the front was rather plain in comparison, collar high around the clavicle and colourful pattern not appearing until the ruffles on the waistband.

Touya looks vaguely flustered by the compliment –it’s a thing he still hasn’t quite learned how to do, accepting compliments about his appearance. He’ll smile and nod at any compliment regarding his go and his skills, but when appearance comes into play he’s just as insecure as when he was 13. “Um, yeah, I mean… I will. And, uh… thank you.”

Another epiphany coming from cross-dressing is that, be it that he’s less of an ‘imposing’ presence like this or whatever, people seem to have finally dispelled the idea that he’s antisocial, or not friendly anyway. Girls especially seem more relaxed and tranquil around him, now, which is a blessing considering Akira absolutely never could figure out how to deal with the stammering messes he was sometimes faced with.

“Tell you what, we so totally have to go shopping together some time! You have an amazing taste in dresses.” Nase continues, “Maybe I can get Sakurano-san to come along too, I’ve heard she was pondering the idea of a makeover…”

Meanwhile, as Touya more or less absently nods along Nase’s words, only half following the conversation; Hikaru is faced with the realization that, while taller than him in their teenage days, Touya stopped growing and he apparently didn’t as he seemingly gained a good three inches on him, as it becomes evident when Akira ‘climbs down’ from the heels of the day, velvety black boots with golden decorations similar to the ones on his dress.

 _‘When did he even buy all this?!’_ knowing Touya? He probably went shopping straight after the challenge was issued and has the entire week already planned out. The most surprising thing here is that the dresses are actually in good taste –but then again, being as close as he is to the prodigy, Shindou knew the truth about Touya’s questionable style in sweaters and suits: he just really never gave a shit about what he wore and was the epitome of ‘function over fashion’, with the sole guideline of ‘formal’ to his style. Now, though, he actually has to think about it and, clearly, Touya Akira does _not_ mess around. _‘I guess I can’t blame him… if I had to crossdress, I’d probably make sure that at least I look fucking gorgeous while doing it, too…’_

And then his mind catches up with him and it dawns on Hikaru that he just called Akira ‘gorgeous’, albeit in the safety of his own thoughts. He freezes mid-way to putting his backpack in one of the lockers provided by the Institute, then shakes his head and slams it closed.

“…Shindou?”

Of course Touya noticed. Hikaru clears his voice and chances a look at the other. No make-up for today, probably on an assumption from his rival that it would’ve been too flashy, but still. When that face looks back at you, big green eyes and high cheekbones, all tiny and petite in his dress, no amount of deep breaths will ever make you ready enough.

“I’m fine.” Oh he tries, he tries valiantly. “See you on the goban.” And _that_ is a promise he knows he can keep. Judging by the smile that threatens to split Akira’s face in half, the young prodigy appreciates that.

 

True to his promise, Shindou comes at him with everything he’s got, and their match predictably starts turning into speed-go within the first 25 minutes of playing. Lunch break sees them both with quickened breath from the sheer intensity of their play and steel gazes fixated on each other.

Shindou has an ironclad grip on his fan, and lowers his eyes first to study the board. He’s ahead at the moment, but it’s a measly half moku advantage and Touya’s stones are breathing down his neck in a fury. As of right now, there’s absolutely no telling how the game will end. Relaxing the hold on the fan, Hikaru sighs and moves to stand up, for the moment satisfied with being able to give his rival 110% and showing him a proper match, dress or no dress, just as he said he’d be able to.

They made their way into the lobby in what soon eased into a companionable silence, which allowed them to hear the conversation some of the other pros were having at a table not too far away.

“This is utterly ridiculous. Why are my students  even talking about stupid clothes?! They should be concentrating on taking down Touya Akira’s go, not making silly bets!”

As bitter as he was about anything concerning the Touyas, Morishita-sensei’s firm belonging among those with “tunnel Go-vision” is refreshing, to say the least. Shidou just shrugs sheepishly to Touya, who shakes his head and shrugs in return, silently assuring his rival that he won’t take it personally.

The jolly laughter from Kurata, just beside the 9th dan, only makes things funnier for the newly arriving duo: “Don’t say that, Morishita-san, it’s just harmless fun!” the 7th dan says, still chuckling amiably, “Even the most brilliant of minds gets dull when it only ever thinks of the same thing.”

“That doesn’t mean any of them should just up and dress like a china doll.”

“And how it _burns_ you that none of your students could ever pull the same look off.”

At this point, Hikaru is holding his belly and nearly choking with laughter, and even Akira is covering his mouth with both hands to hide the giggles.

 _‘Now I’m imagining Honda in a dress, and it’s_ not _a pretty sight.’_ Shindou is still wiping legit tears out of his eyes when Touya gets up to leave. “You don’t wanna grab a bite?” he asks, before he can stop himself.

“Our match is not over yet, Shindou.” Is the only answer he gets, which in the magical language that only Touya speaks and only Hikaru understands means “I’m still very nervous about our game and I don’t want any distractions until it ends. I’m going to go clear my head, maybe get some fresh air, finish our brutal battle and then, _maybe_ , I can have some food.”

They don’t need more words after that, and they part ways, to not let their friendship distract them from the match. Ooteais are not something to be trifled with, and even though Hikaru’s booming return made up for the time lost on his first year, he’s still technically two dans below Akira… officially, at least. Lunch was a lonely affair for Shindou, since Neither Waya or Fuku had a match today, but his attention is swept fully into the goban as soon as they make their return.

In the end, a well-placed suberi when Hikaru least expected it earned Touya a solid comeback, and even though they fought for territory until the very last stone, Shindou has to tap his fan in defeat, as the final tally sees Akira ahead by one and a half moku.

“I have no..thing?” he dares rise his eyes after the customary bow, and what he sees is unusual to say the least.

Akira’s hands are joined in front of his lips in a prayer position, and his chest is rising and falling deeply, as if he’s breathing long and slow breaths just to contain whatever emotion is making him so… fervent. “Thank you for the game.”

The young prodigy himself barely recognizes his own voice –he couldn’t have sounded more breathless if he ran a marathon. It’s just that… it’s the best game they’ve played in a while; and he’s so damn proud of Shindou not letting the stupid crossdressing thing disrupt him from playing a serious game, that he could just about cry right now. Or hug him over the goban and send stones scattered everywhere. And he’s just so grateful –it must be showing in his eyes, because Shindou is looking at him with a strange expression on his face.

“T… Touya?”

 

“Sorry.” He gains his composure back and reciprocates the bow, “That was beautiful, Shindou. Thank you for playing like this against me.”

They start gathering the stones, much to the bemoaning of the few onlookers who were hoping for a game discussion –that will come later, and it’ll be an absolute bloodbath, but for now, let us all bask in the beauty of the game. As they put all the stones to their respective goke and clear the space, Hikaru remembers something Kuwabara once told him and adds his own twist to it:

“Well, you know what they say, it takes two to tango.” He doesn’t really know what’s possessing him to speak to Touya like that, but he even adds a wink to it, which successfully takes Touya aback. They usually never openly give each other compliments, preferring to fight their lungs out, and then defend each other whenever someone else is talking crap about either of them when one is absent.

“Y-yeah.” he answers, a bit more meekly, “I’ll see you later at the salon?”

Today is different though. Maybe it’s the beautiful game they played, giving Hikaru more confidence, despite the loss –only an idiot is unable to see what they can learn from loss, and Hikaru has long vowed to always keep on learning, so there’s that; or maybe is the new atmosphere this whole crossdressing shenanigan has brought down –not the change in Akira’s appearance itself, but the proof that, underneath the cold and collected exterior, Touya is just like all of them, staggeringly human, stubborn, with something to prove and most of all ready to have some fun and ignore all common sense in the process.

“Oh yeah! I can’t wait to hear what the old geezers have to say about this whole new adventure!”

“Shindou!” it doesn’t sound nearly as reprimanding as Touya would’ve liked, especially when he’s still biting back a smile from their game, but then he notices Amano-san approaching him from a distance and knows what’s coming.

They _are_ public figures after all, no matter how much they forget about it, and a go professional suddenly showing up in a dress makes for a juicy article. Hikaru noticed as well, and knows too.

“Do you want me to go? I can—”

“Stay!” the one word, too vibrant to be a plea but too soft to be a command, is out of Akira’s mouth before Shindou even finishes the question.

 _‘Not so indifferent after all.’_ Well, he is the only one that seems to notice –the rest of the world was seemingly content with viewing Akira as a perfect little Go-robot, so of course this entire bet thing was a shock to people. He nods at the young prodigy, and not a moment too soon.

“Ah, Touya-kun. Would you terribly mind to answer a few questions?”

“Not at all, Amano-san. Can Shindou follow us? It has to do with him too, anyway.” And what heartless bastard would ever refuse smiling, polite, adorable Touya?

“But of course.” Precisely. Hikaru idly wonders if Akira knows he could manipulate people into murdering each other just out of cuteness. “Shall we move to the lobby?”

Right, the clocks run on five hours and other people were still playing.

 

“So… I’m just going to address the elephant in the room and ask if I can take a picture of your dress, as well as ask about the story behind it.”

Touya exchanges a glance with Hikaru, who makes a non-committal head shake at him. “Sure.” He shrugs, “My father will have a good laugh about it.” He takes a couple of steps back, inadvertently posing right beside Shindou while the journalist takes the picture. “So. I’m going to start right from the beginning and say it’s all this one’s fault.” Touya continues, good-naturedly jabbing a thumb in the direction of Hikaru’s chest, and Amano-san chuckles.

“How so?”

“He remarked to a common acquaintance, in passing, that I could step in here in crossdressing attire and still be at the top of my game...” 

Akira’s diplomatic recount was interrupted by Shindou, who proudly offers his exact quote: “No, no, no! If you have to say it say it right! My words were: Touya could come in here every day dressed in full drag and still wipe the floor with everyone up to 7th dan!”

It earned him a not-so-discreet elbow in the ribs, as the young prodigy hissed a quick “cut it out!” at him and then continued on. “Yes, well. His friend didn’t seem to believe him. Clearly, I had to defend my honour and prove to the world that, regardless of what I’m wearing, I’m still _Touya Akira_.”

 _‘God damned right.’_ Shindou thinks, crossing his arms and nodding solemnly at his rival’s words.

Amano amusedly jots down the boys’ answers, and continues his interview. “So what are exactly the terms of the challenge?”

Touya taps his lips with the tips of his fingers, mulling it over for a little. “Well, most of it is unspoken rules. But above all, it has to be something very obvious, no cheating. Which means no pants. And that’s about it. I just have to walk in here in a visibly feminine attire and still be at my best.”

“And how is it working out for you?” the journalist has the feeling he’s interviewing two schoolboys playing silly dress-up games, and yet he knows that with an article like this… the public will just eat it up. He’ll have to be very careful in recounting the events as truthfully and respectfully as he can.

The smile on the young Touya is just precious, though, as he answers: “So far, I’m undefeated, even in a dress.” There’s a proud pause after that, and the curious thing is that the most proud of the two seems to be Shindou. Amano shakes his head. Kids these days… “But…”

“But?”

Akira has gone pensive, and is now absently stroking his own chin with his index finger as he speaks. “What started out as just a game is slowly turning into a… social experiment of sorts, if you pass me the term.”

That’s interesting. “How so?”

“It would seem that our friend’s theory was not fully without credit.” Akira explains, “My opponent from yesterday was reluctant to forfeit the game despite having encountered a solid defeat; as if my being in a skirt was supposed to discount my ability somehow.”

Hikaru’s not so subtle comment of “douchebag!” doesn’t at all go unnoticed, but Amano disregards to write it out of respect for the brilliant young pro. Touya shoots him a glare that falls completely flat against his rival’s firm dislike of whoever that guy was, and carries on. “A female fellow player then hinted that it happens to her quite often, to encounter men that are reluctant to accept her as a superior player just because she is a girl; and while it is true that most professional Go players here are male, that doesn’t mean that women in the business shouldn’t be taken seriously.”

“So basically now in addition to the challenge of being a skirt-wearing Go menace, Touya can also point out how hypocritical it is of some people to talk about respect and professionalism if they can’t see a brilliant player past a stupid dress.” Unable to contain himself, Hikaru finished the sentence for Akira, leaving Amano-san quite impressed.

“Well, it is flawless logic, I have to say.” He comments, jotting down the final notes of what will possibly be the most entertaining article ever written in the history of GoWeekly. “And how long is the experiment going to last?”

“One full week. We’re currently on day two.” Touya provides, “I planned and bought seven outfits, each with its own theme, with the help of the classiest lady I know. Yesterday's was 'raven', today's is 'absynthe'. I won’t have any more official matches after today, but I will attend lectures, events, study sessions and the likes. I’m very eager to find out whether people take me seriously for who I am, or if my surname and the impression it carries with it had been a shield all along.”

“And who is Touya-kun’s wise fashion advisor?”

The answer makes both Amano and Shindou startle with laughter: “My own mother, obviously. She was actually very excited to ‘doll me up’, I think she seized the opportunity to enjoy picking dresses for the daughter she never had.”

Akira himself joined in with a chuckle at the end of his words, and Hikaru inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. It’s good that his family took the whole thing in stride and for the harmless game it is –at the mention of Touya Kouyo, he suddenly got scared that the former Meijin might find it ‘shameful’ or be angry at Akira for any number of reasons. Luckily, the man seemed to not give a single fuck about anything that wasn’t go or family. Just like his son.

“You really are full of surprises, Touya-kun.”

“Yes, that’s what Waya-kun told me as well.”

“Waya-kun?”

“Waya Yoshitaka.” The young prodigy provides. “He’s the challenger. You might want to get a statement from him too, I’m sure he has a few choice words about this.”

The journalist jots the name down, still chuckling. “I’ll be sure to do that. Any parting words?”

The two rivals shared a long look, before an almost teasing smile made its way on Akira’s mouth.

“ _Never_ underestimate a go player in a skirt.”

 

 

“That. Was. Awesome!” Shindou finally exclaims, once they’re safely out of earshot and walking along the outer court of the Institute, “That was so badass, holy crap! You’re gonna be Nase’s hero for sure!”

Touya bites his lips, watching his rival be the loud, rambunctious personality he always is. “Well… it’s true, isn’t it? What I said… I do believe every word. Don’t you?”

“What are you talking about? Of course I do!” Hikaru exclaims, stopping short in his walk and turning to grab the other by the arms, “Especially the part where you said that clothes be damned, you’re still Touya Akira… don’t you remember what you told _me_ some time ago?” how could he ever forget, “ _The game you play is what you are, and that’s enough for me_. It goes both ways, you know?”

The disarmingly honest smile, so up close and personal, is almost enough to throw Akira for a loop. Especially with the way Hikaru is literally holding him by the arms. Not that they haven’t gotten up close and personal in the past, but shouting matches are a thing, this… moment, whatever it is, fills Akira with a strange warmth.

He is just so grateful and proud for Shindou’s words of limitless acceptance towards him that… that…

Hikaru feels a ‘whoosh’ of air leave him, as his rival finally gives into instinct and hugs him, slender arms going around his neck and resting behind his nape, as Touya all but hides his head in the crook of his shoulder. “It means a lot to me.” He mumbles, “Thank you, Shindou.”

“You’re… welcome…” Shindou tries to reciprocate the friendly hug –because that’s what it is, right? A _friendly_ hug between rivals who hold each other in very high regard– but as he wraps his arms around Touya’s midriff, his hand makes contact with the bare skin of the other’s back, left exposed by the dress design, and suddenly Hikaru is embarrassed, like he shouldn’t be touching Akira like that, or rather that said touch shouldn’t make him think that the cool skin of his rival’s back feels nice against the warmth of his own hands.

At least it seems that Touya feels slightly awkward as well, since they simultaneously jump apart when they register how much longer than necessary the contact is lasting.

The young prodigy is the first one to recover, and he clears his voice softly. “So… day 2, success?”

For some reason, the hopeful tone in Touya’s voice brings excitement back into Hikaru's. “Definitely yes. But don’t think I’ll let this slide just because you looked cute today! I’ll get my revenge at our next match!”

They spend the rest of their free time lightly bickering over everything and nothing, and Akira was most definitely _not_ thinking about how his rival calling him ‘cute’ made him feel, nor wondering whether the next dress would impress him or not.

Just as Hikaru was most definitely not still thinking about the feeling of Touya’s skin under is hands and the chances of it happening again.

 

_~tbc~_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know. I'm a tease.
> 
> Don't tell me you didn't love it.  
> But enough of that! Theme for the next dress: Ocean!  
> Here's the choices:  
> 1 - https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/71/78/e7/7178e703629d0a9b5193876952ed01e3.jpg  
> 2 - https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/47/d3/61/47d36111158d87d9526ff8267bea0d32.jpg  
> 3 - https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/f5/94/54/f59454e84ddc7f471474bee3c8938c1a.jpg
> 
> the sooner you let me know, the sooner I can have another chapter out~


	4. Day 3 - Ocean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What if I did?”  
> “If you did what?”  
> “Tell you. If someday was today. Would you believe me?”  
> “Hika—”  
> “You might want to sit down for this. It starts with a goban with bloodstains on it…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. I couldn't wait, so I went ahead and picked number 2 as my favourite design.  
> For reference: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/47/d3/61/47d36111158d87d9526ff8267bea0d32.jpg
> 
> And I know I'm a terrible, terrible tease; but so is Akira, ok?  
> I just hope this doesn't seem too rushed, it's just the way I write -I don't really know how to explain it, things happen. I go on instinct, my hands make things appear and only after I stop and see what new trinwreck I created.  
> Either way. Grossly unbeta'ed, as usual, but oh well.  
> Enjoy.

The next morning sees Akira running slightly later than he would have hoped, which in turn makes him run almost straight into Shindou –only saved from a full collision by the fact that the other pro was alerted by the click-clacking of what were rapidly becoming familiar heel sounds.

“Oh hey, Touya!” he greets cheerfully, “I thought you’d be already inside, how come you’re cutting it so close?”

Touya lets out a slightly exasperated sigh. “Petticoats.” He states flatly, in a tone that clearly says _don’t ask_. And if Shindou had to be frank, the puffiness of today’s skirt makes him kinda wonder how many layers it takes to make it look like that.

It seems like today Touya decided to forego the coat altogether, as this time there’s no sneaky designs to expose his back to the cold –and the early March sun is really giving them good hopes about winter finally letting up soon. Actually, with the over-the-knuckle sleeves and high arrow collar, this might be the most covering dress yet, despite the skirt being shorter than the previous two designs. It still rests at the prodigy’s knee, so Akira’s supposed modesty is perfectly intact. Since he knows he’s already staring, Hikaru takes the time to appreciate the way the deep dark blue of the dress makes Touya’s green eyes stand out even more, and the silver embroidery around the skirt collar hem livens up the design just enough for it to not be dull –not that a puffy skirt rising into a tight lace-up bodice would be dull by any standard, but still… it really makes the difference between ‘nice’ and ‘beautiful’.

Considering that he couldn’t see an end to today’s sheer stockings, Shindou guesses they go up to his rival’s thigh at the very least, then he realizes that he’s staring at Touya’s legs and quickly drops his gaze to the silver doll shoes.

“Shindou?” the touch of amusement in Akira’s voice snaps Hikaru’s attention back to his rival face, and he has to fight down a blush, figuring the soft call of his name is the nicest way Touya could find to tell him ‘eyes up here!’. He shakes his head.

 _‘This is gonna be a long day.’_ Not that he’s entirely complaining, he muses, finally relaxing into a smile of his own. “We should get inside.”

And with a nod from Touya, the pair enters the Institute and is greeted by familiar voices excitedly reading out loud:

“Wait wait, it gets better! _And so, as would be expected by a personality as complex as Touya Akira, what started as a juvenile bet has soon turned into a manifest about equality and respect. When inquired to about the matter, Waya Yoshitaka, the challenger, showed a typically youthful candour in admitting he never thought this far and it was just fun and games for him; but declared_ _«It is kinda true, I guess. And it might help change the way people view female players if someone as strong as Touya Akira goes around in a skirt and doesn’t lose any respect because of it. And why should he, really? Frankly, it’s changing my opinion of him for the better, I can appreciate a guy with a sense of humor._ _»_ Awww, Waya, I didn’t know you cared so much!” Isumi is the one reading the article, currently surrounded by most of the other pros who were insei the same year Hikaru took the exam, next to a vividly blushing Yoshitaka.

“Can we shut up about this now?” the brunet is clearly blushing and mildly uncomfortable, but his protest isn’t nearly as strong as it would be if he was really against it, and there’s just enough amusement in his voice that Shinichiro can tell he’s allowed to continue:

“No way, I’m almost done! _Confronted with the possibility that the general thinking could turn out to be that the young Touya only gets away with it because of his stunning play, Waya 4-dan simply shrugged and replied «Well, that can go both ways, can’t it? You’re telling me you think that if Touya Akira was born a girl it would’ve been any different? Please.» All the interviewed parties agreed on that, and that this entire endeavour is no more and no less than a good wake-up call to the traditionally ingrained and predominantly male world of Go professionals. As the young Touya himself said: «Never underestimate a Go player in a skirt.»_ Oh, wow.” Isumi concluded, chuckling.

“Oh my god, I love this!” Nase exclaims tears of laughter in her eyes as she good-naturedly pats Waya on the back, “You guys just made coming in here every day _so much better_!”

“Ah, Akira!” in the end, Ashiwara-san is the one to notice the two rivals just arriving in the room, “We were just reading your interview with Amano-san!” the older pro says, casually swinging an arm around Touya’s shoulders, “There really never is a dull moment with you, is there?”

 _‘Bad move. Touya hates being manhandled.’_ Hikaru thinks, observing the 5-dan’s friendly behaviour towards Akira, and the way the prodigy respectfully side-stepped out of the half hug. _‘Aaand there he goes. Really Ashiwara-san, you’ve known him longer than me, you should know better than to touch without permission.’_

“I’m afraid I haven’t had the chance to read it yet.” Touya diplomatically infers, “I assume it turned out entertaining?”

Surprisingly enough, Waya is the one to answer him, “That’s one word for it. But hey, this is gonna give us a lot of positive attention so I guess we did good. Up top!” he holds out a hand, clearly expecting a high-five, and to his credit Akira only hesitates for a second before reciprocating.

Saeki-san, who was standing a little bit behind the whole group, muffled a laugh behind his hand. “You’re gonna want to hide from Morishita-sensei for a while after this, Waya-kun.”

There’s a general round of laughter at that, and finally the crowd starts to disperse.

“Got any games  today, Akira?”

Touya shakes his head at Ashiwara’s question. “No, I just came to sign in for my new schedule and get the paperwork for the Go exhibition at the Bunkamura gallery.”

“You’re going there too?” Hikaru’s face lights up, “I’m doing the Shuusaku panel!”

“Of _course_ you are.” Touya’s eyes level him with a half exasperated and half amused look at how much of a Shuusaku-nerd he is, while Nase also moves to go.

“Aw, that sounds like fun!” she says wistfully, “I’ll try and pop around after my game. Oh, and by the way, love the shimmer, Touya-kun!”

“Thanks. The theme for today is ‘ocean’ so I thought it’d be appropriate.” Once again, the make up on the prodigy’s face is minimal, just  a hint of sparkly colourless powder on the inner corners of his eyes, and a tiny bit of matte tint on his lip, that makes them look naturally peach-coloured and contrasts nicely with all the dark blue.

“You thought well.” Nase confirms, turning to leave the room, “You’re getting good at this! See you guys at the exhibit!”

Ashiwara-san also leaves, not before ruffling Akira’s hair affectionately, much to the boy’s protests of not being a child anymore and with a “Good luck for today, Akira!”

Still fixing his mussed hair, Touya misses the annoyed glance Hikaru shoots at the 5-dan’s retreating back. “We probably should get our things and go…” he muses, “Do you know if any of your friends are working at the expo as well?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, I think so.” Shindou’s answer is not as focused as it could be, a clear sign that he’s thinking of something else, and he doesn’t move even though Akira’s hand is now pulling his sleeve towards the registration hall, “Waya should be coming for teaching games in the afternoon, and Honda will be there too.”

“That’s nice.”

“Uh-huh.”

A sigh. “Shindou.”

A hum. “What?”

“We have to **get going!** ”

“Gah!”

 

They manage to do the paperwork and reach the gallery just in time, and the exposition itself is pretty straight-forward. Go games, go lectures, go merchandise. An antiquity museum also provided a small array of historical pieces, mostly centered around Honinbo Shuusaku, and Hikaru –who has actually become a Shuusaku expert over the last few years, as a way of keeping as much of Sai alive as he could, combining his knowledge of the truth about the ghost with the physical evidence left behind by Torajiro– is doing a panel explaining the history behind some of the pieces and the iconic games and events behind them.

Akira instead is in the adjacent hall, doing a general lecture on Go and Tsumego in particular to an audience of roughly 100 people. To say that he was nervous about doing it in a dress would be an understatement, but apparently the article written by Amano-san really left an impression of people, because not only half the audience was female, but everyone was following politely, if a bit more curious than usual.

“And my time has come to an end. There will be an half-hour long break, now, and next up will be the discussion of Go in literature and art, with the exposition of feudal prints depicting Go and everyday life, particularly the works of master Kikukawa. Any questions?” Several hands shot up just as Touya noticed Shindou entering the room, and his smile takes on a mischievous note, “Any questions that are about Go and _not_ about my dress?”

The hands went back down, and there was a predictable rumble of laughter. “That’s a good point to take my leave, then. Thank you for your attention and I hope everyone could learn something about coming back from a losing  formation, as a good friend of mine is fond of doing –often in much stranger ways than the ones offered today. But that’s a tale for other times. Enjoy the rest of the exhibit, and thank you again, everyone.”

From all the way behind the audience, Hikaru stuck his tongue out at him, prompting more chuckles from the people who noticed him coming in, and Touya just shakes his head as he steps down from the little podium he was teaching from and towards his rival.

“Took you long enough, _Shuusaku-sama_.” He says teasingly, once they’re close enough.

“Shut up.” Hikaru mutters, lightly punching his rival on the arm, “You’d be surprised at how many questions people still have about Torajiro. It’s so weird.”

Akira hummed pensively, as he turned to stand beside Shindou and bumps shoulders with him to prompt him to walk with him, “I think it’s the way you talk about him.” He then says, “For the longest time, it’s just been a name associated with a brilliant Go-master, but you… you make him sound like an old friend. It’s interesting.”

 _‘If only you knew, Touya…’_ shaking his head, Shindou finally takes the lead in their walking and sneakily redirects them towards a stall that’s selling ramen.

The young prodigy narrows his eyes at him when he notices where they ended up, but lets it go with a sigh and they get in line. “So. Ready to tell me what got you in a mood earlier this morning?”

The thought brings a blush to Hikaru’s cheeks. He’s actually been thinking about it all day, but really doesn’t want his rival to make fun of him. “N-nothing.”

“Shindou—” it’s a testament to how close they’ve grown that Akira doesn’t even need to finish the phrase before Hikaru finally snaps.

“Ok, fine!” he grumbles, “But you asked for it! I’m just a little mad about Ashiwara-san.”

Bright emerald eyes blink confusedly at him. “Ashiwara-san? What did he ever do to you?”

Ah. There’s the embarrassing part. “Nothing, I actually like him… it’s just… ‘Akira-this’ and ‘Akira-that’… why does he get away with being so casual to you?”

“He’s known me ever since I was twelve.”

Touya honestly doesn’t get why something like this would make Shindou mad, until he hears the exclamation that tumbles out of his rival’s lips: “Well, so have I!”

Admittedly, it briefly stuns him into silence. Then the same warm feeling from yesterday, just after the interview, makes its way through Akira’s chest, and half covering his mouth with his hand is just about all he can do not to blush like an idiot. “That’s it?”

“Don’t you dare laugh at me.”

“I’m not! I’m not…” and yet, the slight break in his voice betrays a giggle, “It’s just… if it bothers you that much, you can just call me Akira, too.”

“Really?” _‘Goddamnit Hikaru, that sounded way too eager.’_

Once again, the young prodigy shakes his head at him and actually takes initiative: “Really, Hikaru, when have _we_ ever bothered with formalities?”

 _‘Touché.’_ It makes so much sense, said out loud, that he wonders why he even thought it was an issue in the first place –he was just so used to the idea of only really close friends being on a first name basis, that it didn’t occur to him that what he has with Touya it’s well beyond that. Eternal rivals indeed… it doesn’t get much closer than that. _‘Not unless…’_

Shindou’s mind slams on the brakes at that unfinished thought, which puzzles him as much as the realization that he just basically admitted to being _jealous_ of Ashiwara-san. Luckily, Akira seems quite chill about the whole thing, if a tiny bit embarrassed.

“I mean, I know we’re rivals and we spend 70% of our time shouting at each other’s face…” gee, thanks for the reminder, “But I’d like to think we are pretty damn close. Don’t you?”

That splits the young pro’s lips in a brilliant smile worthy of his name. “Of course I do! C’mon Akira, let’s get some food now, I’m _starving_.” It still feels kinda weird saying it, but it’s the good kind of weird.

 

They end up eating together and talking about upcoming games and events, jumping from topic to topic until they come back to the expo.

“You know, I haven’t had the chance to visit the Shuusaku hall yet.” It’s an off-hand remark, but it makes Hikaru snap at attention all the same.

“What? Blasphemy!” he jokingly cries, but does stand up, “Come on, we’re going.”

Touya blinks. “Now?”

“Now.” His rival reiterates, “I’m the one in charge of the panel, so I can come and go as I please, I’ve got keys to the hall, for set up and clean-up.”

The hall doesn’t open again for another hour, so it’s deserted when Hikaru takes his rival to see it, but somehow it looks even better. The silence gives all the pieces a sense of ancient mystery that reminds Shindou of Sai, and he glances sideways at Touya, and at the way he reverently observes the antiques while he himself explains little bits of this and that.

Hikaru wonders if, just like during their first game together, Akira can sense the spirit behind Torajiro’s mementos.

“You know something I never understood?” the young prodigy finally speaks up. It’s barely more than a whisper, and he continues when Hikaru shakes his head no, “You always seem to make a distinction. You talk about Torajiro as a person, and then you talk about Shuusaku’s Go. Like it’s two different people.”

It’s startlingly frightening how perceptive Akira is, sometimes. Hikaru bites back a smirk. _‘Am I that transparent, Sai?’_ he would have asked his ghost friend, but he knows the answer already. “Do I? I didn’t notice.”

It’s a blatant lie and Hikaru knows Akira can see it. The prodigy merely shoots him a discreet ‘bitch please’ look, but it soon softens into something different. Touya keeps talking. “You talk about Torajiro as someone very much human, someone you can relate deeply to. And then there’s Shuusaku –something very much _not_ human, a sort of force of nature manifested in the most brilliant Go to ever grace the face of Earth. I can’t help but… draw a parallel. Between Torajiro and Shuusaku… and you and… Sai. It feels like a similar situation.”

Hikaru is completely speechless. Once again, Touya found Sai. He was the only person to ever come remotely close to the truth on his own, some four years ago, with the seemingly nonsensical declaration of “it’s you… but it’s the other you”; and now that theory evolved in something _distressingly_ close to said truth. _‘Shit…’_ Hikaru has no idea what to say, and his throat feels dry –he’s lost between being instinctively worried that Akira might want to ask more and incredibly grateful for his friend’s discovery, in a way that makes _him_ want him to ask.

Touya covers his mouth. “Forgive me.” He says, knowing it’s a touchy subject for his rival, “I’m not making any sense again. Don’t listen to me, you know you don’t have to tell me.”

 _‘I don’t have to, but I kind of want to.’_ He shoves his hands in his pockets out of habit, and his fan pokes out. As the silence between them stretches, Hikaru closes his hand around the object and takes a deep breath. “What if I did?”

“If you did what?” the prodigy ask cautiously, shooting a worried look at his rival’s shaky voice.

“Tell you.” Hikaru is clutching the fan with both hands in front of himself now, and his hands are trembling slightly. “If someday was today. Would you believe me?”

Akira distractedly feels his heart quicken. “Hika—”

“You might want to sit down for this.” The other says, taking his rival’s hand and making them both kneel beside one of the exposed gobans. “It starts with a goban with bloodstains on it…”

 

The recounting of his adventure alongside Fujiwara no Sai is slightly rushed and not too rich in details, as Hikaru is reluctant to explore again some of the more painful memories, but the time seemed right, and more than ever he felt like Akira deserves to know.

“…and after that, I never saw him again. I dreamed about him once, and he gave me his fan in the dream.” He avoided looking at the prodigy’s face the entire time he’s talking, and only after the end he turns to him, only hoping Touya wouldn’t think he’s batshit crazy. “I like to think it was a goodbye, and I bought this to remember him by—”

What he sees in Touya’s face surprises him. He is wide-eyed and no doubt confused by the incredible story, but Hikaru expected that. What he didn’t expect are the tears, staining his rival’s cheeks. By the looks of it, Akira hasn’t even realized they’re even there, yet.

“Akira?”

“What?”

“You’re crying.”

The words finally seem to snap Akira out of his daze, and he brings a hand to his cheek. “I— what— oh…” he mumbles, a bit incoherently, as he taps his face with the hem of his sleeves to dry the tears, “Sorry, it’s just… all those years? He— must have suffered so long… and after that, you— oh my God, Hikaru, I never knew…”

It’s Hikaru’s turn to be dumbfounded and wide-eyed “You believe me?”

Touya seems to regain his composure at that. “Why wouldn’t I?” he states, simply, like it’s the most normal thing in the world to hear about ghost possession and take it seriously, “It makes perfect sense, knowing what I know. If you wanted to lie to me, you would have thought about something more believable, besides… you’re not that good an actor, Hikaru.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Touya places both his hands on his wrists. “Open your hands.” When Hikaru does so, there’s red marks all over his palms from how hard he was gripping the fan during the whole conversation. He didn’t even realize it hurt until he finally relaxed the grip. “You clearly care about this a lot. It’s not something you’d joke about. But how about you give yourself some rest, now?”

“Akira… you…” feeling a flood of relief and affection surge through him, Hikaru does the only thing his mind can supply him with and hugs Akira tight to his chest. “Thank you, for believing me… and for finding Sai.”

Touya barely has the space to put his hands on Shindou’s chest, being embraced as tight as he is, and smiles into the hold. “Well, thank you for trusting me.”

They stay like that for a couple of minutes, and Akira absently realizes that his rival’s shoulders are shaking in muffled sobs. He lets himself be held, as Hikaru quite literally cries onto his shoulders –it must have been hard to keep this secret to himself all these years, and not have anyone to confide in when he lost his dear friend.

There’s no more to be said, anyway, and Touya patiently waits for his rival to calm down, before pulling away to look at him in the eyes. “Hey.”

Shindou’s eyes are red and slightly puffy, but he’s smiling now. “Hey.”

“Let’s freshen you up and go see if any of your friends are here yet, shall we?” not really able to help it, Akira brushes a caress on the side of his rival’s face, as they moved to get up, and Hikaru mentally kicks himself for ever thinking it would go any differently.

It just goes to prove that Akira is the best rival he could ever ask for, and the truth wouldn’t change what they are. He instinctively leans into the touch, just before realizing that asking to be pet by your rival is maybe just a tad creepy, and composes himself.

Still, he can’t help the disproportionately giddy feeling rising into his chest. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

 

Waya is indeed around, he and Honda have been playing teaching games around booths with people of all ages for the past couple of hours, but they manage to catch each other in-between sessions.

Honda had yet to see Touya in one of his new getups, and is visibly confused by the display and a bit embarrassed, which in turn make Touya flustered and Hikaru amused, as he looks at the conversing pair barely hiding a smile.

“So.” Waya’s voice catches him by surprise and he jumps slightly at his friend looming right beside him. “You and Touya, huh?”

Shindou is puzzled. “Me and Touya what?”

The rebuffed question is so instant and genuine that Yoshitaka does a double-take. “You mean you two don’t have a thing?”

“Waya, what are you talking about, what thi—” brain catching up, Hikaru promptly reddens and shuts up. Then remembers he’s supposed to be indignant about his friend even suggesting the notion. “No! of course not!”

Alas, he is a split second too late, and the brunet isn’t buying it anyway. “Shindou. You were literally making heart-eyes at him just now.” He deadpans, fishing today’s copy of GoWeekly out of his backpack, “And it’s not the first time I’ve seen you do it. Even if you two don’t have a thing, _you_ at the very least have a thing for him. Admit it.”

“Like hell I’ll admit anything!” Shindou hisses at Waya, not wanting anyone else to hear the quite awkward conversation, “There’s nothing going on, ok?”

“Please. Want photo-proof?” is all Yoshitaka says, as he holds up the page with the article that also features the photo of Touya with yesterday’s green dress.

While stepping back to give Amano-san the chance to capture the whole getup, Akira had indeed ended up right beside him, but this is the first time Hikaru sees the photo and, well. He can kind of see where Waya is coming from.

The Touya in the picture is facing the camera with his hands neatly folded in front of himself, but his eyes are almost imperceptibly shifted to his left, towards _him_ and he… _‘Is that really the way I look at him?’_

The smile on his face is small, barely there, and his posture is relaxed, hands in his pockets and shoulders down, but there a light in his eyes that makes his face as a whole look very much happy. Like he’s looking at something that really makes him feel so.

He thinks back to their talk of the previous day, and more recently to the confession of barely twenty minutes ago. And even more, to all the times he and Akira pushed and pulled each other on and around the goban, always chasing, always passionate, always meaningful. To everything Akira has said and done for him and vice versa.

Lastly, he thinks about the feeling of Akira’s skin under his hand and the way he couldn’t take his eyes off the other’s legs just this morning.

 _‘Well, crap.’_ This is not a good way to realize you’ve got the hots for your rival. _‘I can believe it Waya saw it and I didn’t!’_ involvement bias, perhaps? Shindou shakes his head. “Well. I haven’t told him, yet.” He finally concedes, pretending to have known all along if only just to spite the brunet, “So kindly shut up about it, will you?”

Yoshitaka doesn’t seem deterred by Hikaru’s attempt at a threatening tone, and chuckles as he pats him on the back. “Sure thing.” He assures, cheerfully, “Couple days ago I’d have told you I don’t know what you see in the guy, but clearly there’s more to him that what little old me thought.” And hey, at least he’s still supportive, even through all the teasing: “It’s a miracle how he hasn’t noticed, but he probably never even thought about it. Go get ‘im, tiger!”

“Go get what?” almost as if on cue, Touya chooses that exact moment to tune back in, after Honda gets approached by one of the customers he was doing shidougo for that apparently had some more questions.

“Ah—um, nothing.” Hikaru is such a flustered mess, still assaulted by all the conflicting feelings of the sudden realization, that he really has to agree with Waya, it’s nothing short of a miracle that Akira doesn’t seem to notice any of it, but manages to clear his voice in the end: “I have to go reopen the Shuusaku hall. I’ll see you guys later?”

“Hm-mm. I’ll go see when my next lecture is.” the prodigy nods his goodbye at Waya and makes a goodbye gesture towards Honda, who is still busy talking with his customer and responds with a similar gesture, “See ya.”

“See ya…”

Waya has an ear-splitting grin on his face and his arms crossed over his chest; and takes his leave with one final piece of wisdom: “Dude, you _so_ want a piece of that.”

 

It’s already dark outside when Akira’s final lecture ends, and the exhibition halls are practically empty. That’s the only reason he even notices steady footsteps behind him –at first he doesn’t think much of it, it’s a building and there are only so many ways to go around it, but still. What are the odds that this person has to go the exact same way as him, and yet doesn’t pass him by?

He slows down just to test it –the footsteps behind him slow down as well. He stops to politely bow at some people going the opposite way –the footsteps stop when he does. There’s no denying it anymore, somebody is following him; and they’re purposefully waiting to catch him alone.

Chancing a glance behind himself, Akira vaguely recognizes a man, someone who attended both his lectures today, but didn’t say much. He did stare at him a whole lot, though, which makes the young pro rather uneasy.

It’s irrational to immediately feel in danger, the man could have a perfectly normal reason for wanting to talk to him, maybe he wants to ask questions about Go, or wants an autograph from his father and is embarrassed to say it in public… but be it the darkness from outside making the artificial lighting in the building not all that comforting, the rapidly emptying hallway or the illusion of being more vulnerable in a dress than he’d be in trousers; Akira panics.

He starts walking again, this time at a brisk pace. The footsteps resume, right on his tail. He speeds up, and so does his ‘shadow’. He speeds up even more, and eventually breaks into a run, afraid enough to be past caring about what would whoever saw him think.

…and his feet take him to the only place he knew he’d feel secure: his impromptu run stops in front of the doors to the Shuusaku hall.

 _‘Please, please, please be inside…’_ he prays to the God of Go, to Fujiwara no Sai’s spirit, to Torajiro and a couple other historical figures just to be sure, and luckily his frantic knocking gets answered, just as the man who was following rounds the corner.

“I’m coming, I’m coming, jeez!” Hikaru’s voice sounds like music to Akira’s terrified heart, “Now, wh— Akira? Weren’t we supposed to meet outside and go for drinks with the others?”

The prodigy leans forward to whisper to him, as to not alert his follower of his plan. **_Please stay with me, I’m being followed._ ** Then he puts a more respectful distance between their faces. “Well, I’m done for the day, so I thought I’d swing by. Are you done closing up?”

Hikaru glances behind himself in the room –he got most of the work done, and the cleaners and museum people should have an easy enough time doing the rest… besides, his rival –and more recently, crush– is in danger! “Yeah, I’m done. Wanna go get the others together?”

Akira nods, mouthing ‘Thank you’ to him with the most relieved smile the young pro has ever seen on him. He takes Shindou by the arm, not without a dusting of pink on his own cheeks.

Considering the situation, Hikaru knows better than to object, and plays along, stomping down the embarrassment in a tiny, tiny corner of his mind –which doesn’t stop a tiny voice from reminding him of one thing:

 _‘Hn. Looks like I_ am _Touya’s knight in shining armor, after all.’_

 

Dinner and drinks with the other pros is a blur, with Akira politely refusing all kinds of alcohol, Shindou stopping at two drinks while fending off Waya’s annoying innuendos; and Ashiwara-san surprisingly drinking most of the other pros over 20 under the table. The most interesting thing that happens, at the end of the evening, is –surprise surprise– about Touya.

“Shindou…” he murmurs, not quite ready to call him by name in front of other people, “I know I’ve taken enough advantage for one day, but could you, possibly…” he glances around the table to make sure nobody’s paying him any mind, “Could you walk with me on the way home? I don’t feel safe tonight.”

 _‘I’m not nearly drunk enough for this.’_ Is Hikaru’s first coherent thought after the split second of glee that courses through him at the fact that Akira comes to _him_ to feel _safe_. This feels like one of those really cheesy Korean dramas Suyeong keeps on insisting that he should watch. But yeah, as he himself previously thought, nobody can say no to adorable, doe-eyed, peach-lipped Touya Akira, and he’s no exception.

“Y-yeah.” he clears his voice at the embarrassing crack in his tone, and tries again, decidedly not purposefully trying to make his voice deeper, “I mean, sure. Don’t worry. Uh… anytime.”

And it’s worth it even just for the smile Touya gives him in return.

They make some feeble excuse about having to catch the last train, not that any of the other patrons gives the slightest fuck about them at the moment, with Honda basically passed-out drunk on Waya’s shoulder, Yoshitaka himself laughing at anything that moves, Isumi and Ashiwara visibly tipsy but still the sanest two in the group, and Nase grumbling about having to drive all these idiots home.

The journey to Akira’s apartment is spent mostly in silence or doing small talk about matches and pros, but it’s a front and they both know it –they both hate small talk.

It’s only at Akira’s door that the young prodigy finally lets air leave his chest in a deep sigh, and closes his eyes for a moment, brushing his hair behind his ear with his left hand and turning to look at Shindou. “Thank you for doing this for me. And sticking around.” He chuckles, “Man, I’m saying ‘thank you’ a lot to you, today…”

Hikaru’s eyes were distractedly following Akira’s fingers in his hair, but the words snap him back. “Are you kidding? You were fearing for your safety, what kind of douchebag would I be if I left you all alone?”

Akira takes one long look at his rival. He could have said no. He could have decided he wanted to spend more time with his friends getting drunk and having fun instead of listening to his ramblings, and yet here he is, content with being his shield for a threat they weren’t even sure was at all there. There it is again, that surge of warmth that sometimes assaults him whenever Hikaru does something crazy like that. Like telling him the truth behind the ghost that he carefully kept secret for seven full years. “Still. You could have said no. So…” he says, leaning in and getting onto his toes, “Thank you, Hikaru. Goodnight.”

Touya is long gone, disappeared behind his door, when Shindou manages to shake off the stupor and take his hand off the cheek that Akira just kissed.

Touya Akira just kissed him on the cheek as a thank you for walking him home. _‘Good night, indeed.’_

He bites his lips, and smiles stupidly to himself the whole way back home.

As far as weekly challenges go, he’d say that Day 3 is a definite success, too.

 

_~tbc~_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....aaaaaaaaaand onto the next designs! Next chapter is gonna be juicy, I can promise you that much.  
>  The theme for the fourth dress is Red Wine. 'nuff said. Here's the choices:
> 
> 1 - https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/cc/d9/f7/ccd9f7c6357307c56020d6767d055c0d.jpg  
> 2 - https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/c9/a0/2a/c9a02a031b5bf09d65bffb459606bc9d.jpg  
> 3 - https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1Q03vJXXXXXciXFXXq6xXFXXXw/Freeship-Red-Long-sleeves-Classic-Gothic-Lolita-font-b-Dress-b-font-font-b-victorian-b.jpg
> 
> if anyone is interested in giving me an opinion on what they'd rather see Akira wearing, feel free to do so in the comments. see ya~


	5. Day 4 - Red Wine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’ve got a big mouth, Yoshitaka.”
> 
> “Why? I called it as I saw it. [...] That wasn’t a ‘battle’, it was foreplay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I arbitrarily chose my favourite dress out of the options I had.  
> I guess I'm just too fast.
> 
> today's winner: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/cc/d9/f7/ccd9f7c6357307c56020d6767d055c0d.jpg
> 
> and... yeah. don't ask. I don't even know what happened, this got away from me fast and hard.  
> as it usually happens with anything I write.  
> grossly unbeta'ed s usual.  
> enjoy, I guess?

It’s a good thing that the Go expo at the Bunkamura gallery is a two-day thing. Neither Touya or Shindou could really enjoy it properly, having to do work; but today there’s gonna be a small amateur tournament taking place in the Shuusaku hall, now that the antique pieces have been returned to the museum, and different pros are giving lectures and lessons.

“Still, I’m already getting ready to go out.” Hikaru said, phone balanced between the ear and the shoulder, as he pulls up a pair of semi-formal black trousers and suddenly has a genius idea; “Hey, what’s the theme for today?”

There’s a chuckle from the other end of the phone. “Why? You want to match?”

“Hey, come on now!” he kind of does, but only couples do that, and he doesn’t want to be that obvious yet, “I’m your eternal rival! Don’t I deserve a sneak peek?”

Disconcerted laughter. “Hikaru, I hope you know you’re making it sound dirty.”

“Wha—hey, that’s not what I meant!” and he can just hope is sputtering is taken as indignant, because right now Shindou’s thoughts are very much becoming ‘dirty’, “Don’t make fun of me!”

“Okay, okay… if you absolutely have to know!” the pro on the other end sighs, “But you’re not allowed to make fun of me either.” A pause. “Red wine.”

 _‘Ooooh~’_ supplies a decidedly unhelpful part of the blonde’s mind. But his eyes catch an accessory that is just perfect and knows what to do, “Perfect. I’ll see you at the gallery?”

“Mm. Don’t be late.”

 

When they meet up in front of the gallery, Akira eyes suspiciously the dark red pocket square adorning Shindou’s front shirt pocket as if it could jump out and bite him. “Really, Hikaru?”

The rest of him doesn’t seem to have tried too much, but the light grey open button-down casually thrown over a black t-shirt and black semi-formal trousers  definitely looks a bit more ‘smart’ with the help of the pocket square. Something Touya didn’t even think Hikaru owned, much less knew how to use.

“Hey, consider it a shout-out of support!” is the other’s protest at Touya’s sarcasm, and that effectively shuts him up. If Hikaru looked closer, he could have seen the young prodigy fight down a blush, but lost as it is in his own mind, and in appreciation of the dress for the day, he doesn’t really notice; and Akira manages to get himself under control.

Today’s dress has a black upper top, collar wide and square-cut, so much so that it’s just barely not off-the-shoulder, with puffy three-quarter sleeves and descending once again into a lace-up bodice, red ribbon criss-crossing nicely on the front of Touya’s midriff and puffy skirt panning out and stopping just short of the knee, all embroidered in dark roses with an even darker background. Black see-through stockings are back, and this time Hikaru can see the red trim, and a sliver of skin whenever Akira walks fast enough to make the skirt bounce along with its many petticoats.

Hikaru can’t decide whether the most inviting thing about today is the blatantly exposed neck and collarbone or the teasing, barely-there hint of leg. _‘It gets worse. I didn’t think it could get worse.’_ He shakes his head, opening his mouth to sigh. _‘Damn it Touya, why are you so pretty?’_

“W-what?”

“Crap. Did I say that out loud?” Shindou’s face threatens to become redder than his pocket square for a moment, but Akira isn’t faring much better in terms of awkwardness, and Hikaru muses that if Waya was here he’d probably smash their heads together and yell at them to kiss and get it over with –which, surprisingly, is a funny enough scene to get him to relax.

“I-it’s okay! I don’t mind… I’m actually— I’m happy to hear that.” Still very uneasy about the whole ‘accepting that people think you look good’ thing, but that was certainly an A for effort for our Touya-kun there.

 

Without the barrier and time-limit of an official lecture, Akira gets obviously accosted by numerous amounts of people at the expo, asking all sorts of questions –particularly heart-warming were the lady players thanking him for addressing the issue of respect for women in the play; but there are some occasional crass comments here and there.

The worst episode happens in the early afternoon, when they run into Gokiso 5-dan, who was again using Shidougo sessions as an excuse to take out his frustration on unsuspecting weaker players. Never having seen it before, Akira is scandalized, and can’t help but voice his dissent:

“This isn’t Shidougo at all!” he exclaims, bowing slightly to the man who was struggling against the other pro, “Don’t let yourself get bullied into a corner, mister. You can still get your middle-right back if you extend on 13-15 and then secure the side.”

“I… I see. Thank you.” The man tries to politely follow Akira’s advice, but Gokiso 5-dan harrumphs and crosses his arms over his chest at the sight of the duo.

“Well look who it is. The little Shuusaku-brat, and the Touya-brat.” He gives Akira a long, hard stare and his lips twist into a cruel smirk. “Judging by your pretty little dress I should assume you’re a little queer boy?” he asks, moving to get his drink from the side table.

Hikaru was already stepping forward to punch the living daylights out of the man, but Akira manages –just barely – to restrain him by placing an arm in front of his chest, as he addresses the pro himself. “Judging by how badly you’d like to know, I should assume you’re a pervert and a pedophile?”

The retort, very bold even for someone like Akira, leaves not only Hikaru, but everyone else around them pretty much speechless, and Gokiso himself froze for a second, and the hand holding his drink is still hovering midway to his mouth. “Why you little— get out of my Shidougo session. Scram!”

“And what exactly are you teaching these people? How to take a beating so they can make you look strong?” Touya’s voice is rising to a volume dangerously similar to the one it takes when he’s arguing with Shindou. His eyes gleam sharp, one hand is on his hip and the other dives into black’s goke to take and place a stone in direct attack of the older pro’s actually very unstable formations. “Fat lot of good it does, now does it?”

Gokiso bristles vividly at the move of an obviously superior player, and in a blind rage he lashes out: “I don’t have to take this from a little whore in a dress. You’re not the teacher here, so _get out!_ ” he exclaims, splashing Akira in the face with his drink.

“That’s _it!_ ” Hikaru is just about ready to jump at the man’s throat, and the small, flabbergasted crowd would’ve probably let him, but in a surprising display of self-control, Akira grabs his wrist and pulls hard enough to attract his rival’s attention. “Hikaru. Stop. He’s not worth it.” He whispers, then turning to face the onlookers –fellow pros and customers alike. “ _This_ , ladies and gentlemen, is what ‘respectable’ senior Go players become, when in front of a pretty face in a dress.” He says gesturing to himself and what was just done to him, “It makes me sad to have to share the same profession with such a person. My comfort is that such bad seeds are very rare.” Then he smiles, even though his eyes have the same icy glint that usually told Hikaru to run for his life. “If any of you  want to learn _proper_ Go from _decent_ people, Saeki Kouji and Sakurano Chieko are also scheduled to teach today.”

Shindou feels more and more proud of Touya with every word the other says, and falls a little more in love with him every passing second. “Now, if you’ll all excuse me…” the young prodigy finally says, brushing his damp hair out of his face, “I have to go clean up before any of this stains. Unlike what was thrown at my face, this dress _wasn’t_ cheap.”

He promptly heads towards the restrooms, leaving behind a livid and embarrassed Gokiso and an almost speechless Hikaru. Keyword here being _almost_. He turns a glare on the old pro that might as well rival Touya’s, and can’t help but add his two cents: “You’re washed up, and you’re getting left behind.” He all but spits, voice dripping with disdain, “And instead of bettering yourself, you take out your anger on the people you’re supposed to help. You’re _pathetic_ , and you’re a shame to the board you play on.” With that, he too turns on his heels and moves to follow Akira, uncaring of the uproar of indignant comments about Gokiso that finally kicked in after the confrontation. That man isn’t going to have it easy for a long, long while.

 

The blonde manages to find Akira, who is just standing in front of a running faucet, with a paper towel held tightly in his hand and the other gripping the sink for dear life. His eyes are slightly glazed over, but the prodigy is clearly too angry and outraged to even cry about it.

“Hey…” he calls softly, “Don’t let that guy get to you. He’s an asshole.”

Touya doesn’t protest when Hikaru takes his hand and gently wrestles the paper towel out of his hold, to clean the dress collar for him. After all, Shindou has been exposed to angry-Touya many, many times, so he knows how to maneuver around him.

“I know, it’s just…” is all the prodigy says, voice and hands trembling, tilting his head away to give Shindou access as the other slightly wets the paper towel under the faucet and starts dabbing at the frills of the collar, who caught some of the liquid, and then moves to Akira’s clavicle and neck, making his way up to his face, which was the main victim of the assault. “…it’s such bullshit.”

 _‘Well, damn.’_ If Touya, the epitome of politeness and class, is swearing, that means he’s either super-pissed or super-tired. Or a little of both. “Hey, at least you showed him who’s boss.” He tries, to make his rival feel a bit better, “What you said just now was awesome.”

The bitterness in the expression that follows doesn’t quite suit Akira’s normally beautiful smile, but there’s enough humor in his voice for Shindou to know he’s calmed down some: “Really, now?”

Hikaru smirks at him in return, absently realizing that he’s pretty much done with the towelling off, but unwilling to take his hands off his rival’s shoulders just yet. “Yeah, I mean… being a girl is hard work, man!” he jokes with a wink.

 _That_ finally gets a laugh out of the young prodigy. “Oh Hikaru…” he shakes his head, almost distractedly putting both hands on the sides of Shindou’s neck. “I’d never want to be a girl… that would ruin the fun of dressing like one!”

They both erupt in fits of laughter, and neither of them notice they’re leaning forehead to forehead until Hikaru’s breath pretty much dies in his throat. “Akira… I…”

Everything has its limits. Hikaru reaches his when he feels the other’s hands tighten behind the nape of his neck, despite the prodigy turning his head to look away, visibly flustered. He dives in, and his lips find Akira’s neck. The soft “Mmh” that escapes the prodigy’s mouth only spurs Hikaru further, and the blond drags his hands down alongside Touya’s torso until he can grip his waist and trap the other between the sinks and himself.

Akira lets himself be held and kissed, which makes Shindou smirk against his skin. He starts kissing his way up to Akira’s jaw, then his cheek, but when he tries to go for the lips he meets Touya’s thin fingers, instead.

“Stop.” It’s a hesitant refusal, but it’s there nonetheless, “Please…”

Hikaru releases him in a heartbeat. “Sorry.” He pleads, still breathless, “I don’t know what came over me, I—”

“No, it’s fine!” the haste with which Akira stops him from denying anything is intriguing, to say the least, and the blond finds the courage to look back at him. The young prodigy is flushed, but doesn’t seem angry at him at all. “Just… I have lipstick on, today, and people are going to notice, if…”

Oh. Oooh… _‘So much for reading ahead. Damn, my brain literally flies out the window with this guy.’_ Hikaru chastises himself, and looks fondly at Touya as the other explains further: “I can’t validate that man. If we step out of here with my lipstick on your mouth, what he said is gonna be true. And I will have been a whore the whole time, from the second I decided to wear my first skirt.” With very predictable consequences on the consideration people like _that_ will have of actual women.

One could argue that Hikaru could clean the lipstick off before stepping out, but the blond knows Touya. It’s a matter of principle for him, he’s determined to prove such trash to be wrong.

“Got it.” He relents, biting his lips as he gives his rival a once-over. _‘But holy crap, now that I got a little taste you look even more delicious.’_

It’s when he steps back to give Touya space to leave the restroom, that his rival surprises him once more: he hugs him again, this time slow and deliberate, with one more brush of fingers along his mouth, not at all like the friendly one from the other day; and whispers one thing in Hikaru’s ear: “Try that once more later, when we can be alone, it might end… differently.”

Shindou’s mind goes into overdrive with the possibilities, and the hug is over far too soon for his liking; but hey, at least he gets treated to the spectacle that is Touya Akira walking out of the room and turning to look seductively at him before disappearing past the door.

Yes, seductively. There’s no mistaking the slight narrowing of those emerald eyes and the way Touya bites his lips. Suddenly, Hikaru does feel like a tiger.

 

…and of course it would be just Hikaru’s luck that they are _not_ alone for the entire freaking day. But it’s enjoyable anyway, they catch Waya again, who brought Isumi to the expo to have some fun, and even run into Morishita-sensei, who’s overseeing the amateur tournament, when they go check it out. It turns out to be Shindou’s favourite moment of the day, because Morishita-sensei actually speaks to Akira and says something that makes Hikaru pretty damn proud of being in his study group:

“I heard about the commotion this morning.” The man begins, with the stern tone typical of him, right before letting his shoulders sag slightly in a sigh, “I think this entire dress nonsense is silly and juvenile.” Which is not a surprise to anyone, “But what was said to you was unjustifiable, and you did good not to stand for any of it. You’re a good kid, if a bit hot-headed.”

Now, Akira never really spoke much to Morishita-sensei, as he knew the man felt a biting rivalry for his father and didn’t like him much either, so he just respected the 9-dan’s boundaries and tried not to approach him too much. To hear such words of support, from a man that supposedly found him disagreeable, warms the young Touya’s heart beyond what he believed possible, and he bows deeply to the older pro. “Thank you for your kind words, sensei.” He utters, voice barely able to rise enough to be heard, “You’re a beacon of guidance. I can only hope more pros follow your pure and passionate views.” He raises his head back up, and Hikaru recognizes happy-Touya, the one that will always remind him of a friendly, round-cheeked 12 year old, “And I will forever be in your debt, since your study group has brought my rival to me.”

But alas, the extraordinary moment reaches an end, because admittedly Morishita-sensei’s emotional spectrum only runs between stern, angry and angrier, and he really is used to think about any of the Touyas only in terms of infuriatingly brilliant players he needs to be better than;  running smack-dab into the reality that Touya Akira is really just a kid compared to him, and a sweet one at that, is more than a little disorienting to the old sensei.

“Yes, well. Very good.” He awkwardly gives Touya a small pat on the head and turns to get his attention back on the amateur tournament, “Run along now, kids.”

All of the Morishita students present at the moment are shocked into speechlessness. The first one to recover is Waya, who cranes his neck forward to look at his retreating sensei, as if to check it’s really the same person. “What the hell was that?!”

The others start recovering as well, and Isumi chuckles. “I can’t say I have an exact definition, but I’d say it’s a good thing.” He offers, swinging his arm around the brunet’s shoulders, “Who knows, maybe now there’ll be less angry shouting at our study sessions, and we can actually concentrate.”

“You really think so, Shini?”

“Well, a guy can dream, you know?”

Hikaru absentmindedly wonders when did Isumi-san become “Shini” to Waya, and thinks back to all those silent conversation those two seem to have just exchanging looks, but he gets distracted before he can draw the final parallel: “Oh! There’s a section with free to play tables over there…”

Which, again, in Touya’s magical language that only he can understand, means “Oh! A game! Let’s play a game! Right now! Game! Game! Game!”

Not that he objects particularly, or at all.

They sit and start playing at a table, with Waya and Isumi following their match –which promises to be good, despite being a casual one– and soon enough a couple more people are around the table, but the two rivals don’t let any of it distract them, having eyes only for the board and each other.

 _‘Sagari, huh? Fine, keep the edges, I’m gonna move in.’_ Hikaru muses, as he goes for a keima at 5-9.

Touya’s eyes narrow in concentration, but there’s the barest hint of a smile to his face, as he picks up a stone and cuts through the keima at 4-8, clearly telling him that not a single shit will be given about his attack. _‘That’s how you wanna play it, dollface? Fine by me.’_

Predictably, they engage into a battle for the corner soon enough, and it moves across towards the centre pretty damn quickly, with both of them grasping and losing the lead on and off, in a back and forth that has them biting back amused smiles, and the onlookers on their toes wondering who the victor will be.

“Such a complex battle already…” someone comments, right beside their two fellow pros watching the rivals deck it out on the goban.

They don’t get to finish their game, unfortunately, because in a rare show of clumsiness Hikaru startles at something and his knees knock under the table, sending stones falling here and there off the goban and onto the table, effectively ruining the game.

“Damn it!” _‘And I was in the lead, too…’_

“Hikaru, what the hell?” Akira is half-pissed and half concerned, not having heard whatever it was that made his rival jump.

“Nothing. Nothing, sorry… let’s just say this game is yours and clear it up before any of the stones get lost, shall we?”

The young prodigy can’t do much else other than help Shindou gather the fallen stones and clear up the goban, with hissed whispers of “we’re going to continue this later, got it?” and “fine! Fine, yeesh!” and the spectators disperse, including Isumi and Waya, with the latter chastised by the first.

“You’ve got a big mouth, Yoshitaka.”

“Why? I called it as I saw it.” The brunet objects, “I stand by what I said: that wasn’t a ‘battle’, it was foreplay.”

 

Not even a steaming bowl of ramen could convince Hikaru to speak up about what distracted him during their game, and Akira pouts around his chopsticks.

“Hikaru?”

“Hm?” well, at least the other pro seems to have relaxed some, and is definitely enjoying his food –he barely dignifies the call with a close-mouthed hum, as he clearly is too busy chewing.

“We could go get some fresh air after this.” Touya suggests, not at all knowing how to say it or even exactly what to say, but the truth is –he wasn’t concentrating too much on that game either. The little stunt Hikaru pulled on him in the restroom left him pretty much breathless, and he could barely keep it together long enough to even sit at the table they were in.

It had come to him all at once and with deafening clarity, the source of that infamous warmth –it’s always been there, he just couldn’t identify it until he was trapped within Hikaru’s arms, with his rival’s mouth hot on his neck. While past, teenage-him would have sputtered indignantly at the notion of losing time with unimportant things as crushes, present, just-turned-20 him thinks that it wasn’t at all bad, especially considering how well Hikaru has grown. Emerald eyes study him discreetly.

Features long rid of the baby-fat that belonged to the chubby, irreverent little child, Shindou’s face has sharpened into something bright and powerful, with a slender frame and surprisingly strong shoulders. He waits for Hikaru to swallow his food and reply to him.

“Get some air, how?” the blond parrots, with a slight uncertainty to his tone.

 _‘Damn it, Shindou, I’m not good at this and you know it.’_ Akira clears his voice and leans a bit forward, to be able to speak to him in a lower tone. “I don’t know. Get outside, go for a walk… I reckon we need to talk, don’t we?”

That seems to do the trick, because Shindou immediately seems to track back the train of thought that brought them to almost kissing in a public restroom, and he pretends to rub something out of the corner of his eye, just to cover his blush. “Um. Yeah, I guess we do. Do you—” he coughs when he hears his voice crack precariously, and tries again, “Do you maybe wanna go to the park, after this?”

“Sure. It’s a nice, sunny afternoon.” The prodigy answers, smiling brightly and getting up from his chair, “How does now sound?”

A part of Shindou thinks he’s still way too quick to say yes, but… “Oh, I can do now. Now is perfect.”

 

Yoyogi park is literally ten minutes from the Bunkamura gallery, and it’s freaking huge. It doesn’t take long to the two rivals to find a nice secluded spot where they can talk, nicely shaded by trees that haven’t quite started full blossom yet but are still pretty as heck.

All in all, it’s the perfect setting for a confession, Hikaru comes to realize.

“So… back there.” Akira starts, uncharacteristically meek, “What was that? What made you want to…”

“Kiss you?” Hikaru finishes for him, visibly embarrassed but clearly no longer willing to back down, “I don’t know. I just felt my chest would explode if I didn’t do something about it, and kissing you seemed like a good cure. Still does.”

Touya is taken aback by his rival’s bluntness and lack of filter, but it only lasts a moment, before he remembers that it’s just like Hikaru to be so blunt about his own feelings; and that thought makes him smile. “For how long?” he asks, worrying his hands with a strand of ribbon on his dress, if only to keep them occupied.

“A while.”

Akira has a moment of uncertainty, when his rival doesn’t elaborate on that, and takes a shaky breath. “Hikaru… I have to know. Is it just because of the dress?” that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? “Because if it is, I… I…”

Once more, he doesn’t really need to finish the sentence, as Shindou takes both his hands in his own, effectively stopping the fidgeting, and prompts Akira to look up into his eyes.

“Akira.” He starts, an edge of decisiveness that wasn’t quite there, just a minute ago, “I’ll admit these dresses were… an extra temptation…” and the long look those hazel eyes give him, head to toe and back up, gives Touya a pretty good measure of how tempted Hikaru feels, “But it’s not just that. It’s… been with me for a long time. I mean, why do you think we’ve always ended up in front of each other? Why do you think you’re the only one I…”

‘Told about Sai’ was the end to that phrase, not that Akira needed to hear it to know. They can read each other well enough for him to know this much. It brings a slow, steady smile to the prodigy’s face.

“Good. I would have had to punch you if you said it was just because of the dresses.” He jokes, slowly sliding his hands up Hikaru’s forearms, guiltily enjoying the way it makes his rival shiver slightly, until his hands come to rest on the other’s shoulders. “Well?”

The air of expectancy in Akira’s voice almost confuses Shindou. “Well… you haven’t told me if you feel the same yet.”

Ah, the familiar are-you-kidding-me-why-are-you-asking-such-a-stupid-question look. But this time softened by a fondness that apparently doesn’t need to be hidden anymore. Touya bites his lower lip slightly, and leans closer towards Hikaru. “Shut up and kiss me.”

Normally, his rival would have snapped at him for being so bossy, but this time Shindou is more than happy to comply.

The first kiss is chaste and tentative, with neither quite knowing what to do, but as soon as they break apart, they don’t stray from each other’s lips for more than a few centimeters, and their mouths meet again, and again, each time lasting slightly longer than the first. Until Akira finally takes the initiative and nips at Hikaru’s bottom lip.

It’s a small gesture, but it’s enough to give Hikaru a surge of energy, and he opens his mouth slightly as tongues start to get acquainted, while his hands rake down Akira’s sides to finally join at the small of the prodigy’s back, holding with enough force to somewhat tilt him backwards as Shindou tilts forward, getting progressively bolder in his exploration.

“Wait— Hikaru—” Touya manages to rasp out, still basically lip to lip with the other.

Hikaru’s eyes are slightly unfocused but there’s something tender in them as he does wait, and brings a hand back up, to finally indulge in the want to brush it through Akira’s hair. “What?”

“We’re still in the middle of a park.” It’s not without amusement that Touya pointedly straightens himself back up and brings Hikaru’s hands to a more respectable hold in his own.

Shindou pouts, but there’s no malice in it. “Hey, you told me to kiss you.”

“I did.” Touya concedes, barely fighting down a giggle, “But I seem to have… underestimated the consequences.”

“Hmpf. You should know better than to underestimate me.” The blond scolds, playfully bumping shoulders with his rival as he moves to stand by his side.

The unguarded and relaxed laugh that leaves Akira’s lips sounds so natural, to Hikaru’s ears, that he has to wonder how didn’t they end up like this sooner. The beginning of their relationship was rickety at best, sure, obstructed by secrets and misunderstandings, but once those were cleared and they started playing each other more and more… he feels cheesy just thinking about it, but eternal rivals and eternal lovers don’t sound all that different in his head.

They spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying the fresh air in the park in companionable silence or briefly talking about this or that sight, and they hold hands all the way back, until Hikaru has to get off the train and Touya continues on.

 

Hikaru is still absently touching his lips when he runs into Akari on the way home –quite literally.

“Oh hey! Sorry, I didn’t see you.” He apologizes, dopey smile still on his face, “How’s it going Akari?”

“Hey yourself.” She says, straightening up to look at her childhood friend. “You know, same old. University entrance exams on the horizon and no escape in sight.” Another look tells her that something is up, and her nosy sides wins over discretion, “How about you? You look happy. Something good happen today?”

“Yeah— I mean, uh.. same old, too… Go gallery, Go things… you know?”

She tries, so very hard, to hide her smile, and after all he doesn’t know that she saw the most recent number of GoWeekly, which featured a certain picture that anyone would say featured a married couple, if they didn’t know the subjects. “Oh yeah, I went there yesterday… you were working together with Touya-kun, weren’t you?”

The mere mention of the name is enough to make Hikaru think back at what they were doing not too long ago,  and his face takes on an interesting shade of pink.

Done with the subtleties, Akari innocently crosses her hands behind her back and just asks. “You told him you like him yet?”

“I—you—wh—what?” the confused blabbering is even better than she hoped, before Hikaru managers to sober up. “Who told you that?” he hisses at her, surprised and embarrassed but not really angry.

And hey, he’s finding himself on the receiving end of the ‘bitch, please’ look quite often, these days. “Hikaru, we grew up together. I’ve known you’re into dudes since the day you decided to make the front of your head blond.” She deadpans, patting him on the back, “And really, if you thought you were being subtle about going after Touya-kun, you shouldn’t have yelled about how you were ‘chasing’ him at the top of your lungs, all these years.”

 _‘That’s one way to put it, I guess.’_ Sheepishly, he scratches the back of his head as he finally comes clean to his friend. “I guess…” then his eyes widen as it hits him: “Holy crap. I have a boyfriend now.”

Akari giggles. “Yes, that’s usually what happens when you tell a guy you like him and he reciprocates.”

“Stop laughing at me this is serious!” Shindou’s hands fly to the sides of his face, “I’ve never had a boyfriend before, I don’t know what to do! Should I ask him out on a date? Take him to a Go salon? But we always go to salons, maybe I should think of something else, maybe I should—”

“Hikaru!!!” his panicked rambling is abruptly stopped by Akari smacking him upside the head. “Breathe. Remember who we’re talking about.” She says matter-of-factly, both hands on her hips, “It’s Touya-kun. I’m sure he likes you for you, you don’t have to go out of your way to impress him.”

 _‘You make it sound so easy.’_ The young pro muses, collecting himself just the same. “Still, shouldn’t things be… different, now?”

“Not necessarily.” His childhood friend is now smiling fondly at him, “But I’m sure you’ll figure it out as you go. You always do.”

That’s true. And it’s not like he’ll be alone, after all. Akira will be there with him, every step of the way. “Thanks, Akari.”

“Anytime. Lord knows you need a good bap on the head every now and then!”

“Hey!”

The familiar bickering dissolves into goodbyes, as they take their separate directions to go on with their day.

 Hikaru dreams of red roses and green eyes when he finally falls asleep, that evening. 

As for Akira, well...

_'Day 4... success beyond the wildest expectations.'_

 

_~tbc~_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so. yeah.  
> I don't even know.  
> Hurray? XD  
> The confession was supposed to be on day 5 in my mind, but this happened instead.  
> Oh well. Plenty more fun to be had. Next theme is gonna be Caramel, and I already have an absolute favourite dress this time, so just look forward to it~


	6. Day 5 - Caramel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh and Waya?”
> 
> “Yeah?”
> 
> “You’re the worst cockblock ever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might be having a little too much fun with this.  
> Either way, here's the design for this chapter (which is probably my favourite dress yet): https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/21/46/db/2146dbe75d1ef985a89e07d578107032.jpg
> 
> and that's it I guess.  
> I literally have nothing to say, I'm Hika/Aki trash.  
> okbye.

They had known it was coming for a while, with the gargantuan amount of preparation and paperwork involved, but it still eventually snuck up on them, slightly overshadowed by all the chaos that happened. The international Go festival in Kyoto –which was the reason the Bunkamura expo was held in the first place: as a preview of what would be happening in the festival. Today is the final preparation day, and the two-day event would then take place at the scheduled venue –which means that some of the Tokyo pros will do the required paperwork in the morning, and leave late in the evening so they can have an early start in Kyoto, tomorrow.

Needless to say, the Institute is positively bustling with busy people, and the excitement and novelty about Akira’s dresses has finally worn off –which suits the young pro just fine; he’s way more relaxed without curious eyes on him from every direction.

After all, the only person who’s opinion he cares about is…

“Wow. I didn’t think it would be so literal.” Touya fights down a giggle and Hikaru’s words. “You do look good enough to eat.”

The prodigy’s hands prop up on his hips and he levels what’s supposed to be a stern glare, but it only looks more inviting to Shindou. “Hey! Mind out of the gutter, we’re supposed to work today.” He scolds, despite knowing it’s a losing battle.

“You’re no fun, Touya.” They’re keeping somewhat of a distance while at the Institute –they haven’t really spoke about it yet, but it’s a silent understanding between them that they’re gonna wait until this entire dress challenge thing is over before going public, if at all –not like it’s anybody’s business what they do outside of games anyway.

Still, Hikaru does shoot one last longing glance at today’s get up. With “caramel” as a theme, Akira looks undoubtedly delicious in what is the shortest dress yet, with a light beige embroidered lace bodice with a boat neck leaving a vast expanse of neckline exposed before gathering back up into a lace-choker of sorts, which gives him _ideas_ about Touya’s neck, and then there’s a ribbon tied around his waist, under which the embroidery gets less and less dense until it disappears in favour of the layered, cream-coloured tulle skirt that reaches the knee just barely, and what is definitely mid-thigh stockings is giving Hikaru even more ideas.  The heels are also nice. The blond wonders if he can convince his rival to keep them on, when they finally— _‘Whoa, hey, simmer down, Hikaru!’_

Talk about going too fast. The room suddenly feels several degrees hotter, and Shindou decides to take off his bomber jacket and stay in his thin light brown v-neck. He’s got his back to Akira, so he doesn’t immediately notice the other staring, but when they do make eye-contact it’s basically a brief staring contest.

“We should start getting ready. The pros from other countries are already going to arrive in Kyoto today, and they have to schedule the demonstrative games.”

The satisfaction of being the victor in their silent staring match is quelled by the reminder. “International” means that brilliant pros from neighbouring countries and more are going to be there –which, for Hikaru, means having to deal with that jackass, Ko Yeongha. “Hm. Don’t remind me.”

He was able to get his revenge long ago, at the second Hokuto-cup, and really, Yeongha was only antagonising him to purposely get a rise out of him and wasn’t really _that_ awful a guy, it’s just… Hikaru has a lingering dislike for him, and to him Ko Yeongha will always be the jackass that insulted Sai’s memory.

Thinking back on it, Akira can understand why Hikaru was so mad about it, now that he knows the truth –he probably would have been livid, too. So many things make sense now, it’s such a relief to not have the constant worry that his rival is hiding some kind of secret from him.

They’re all busy here and there, getting schedules and signing up for the various program, getting briefed on events and the like –but in the end Touya does stumble into a run-in with is annoyingly insightful sensei.

“You look disproportionately happy today, Akira-kun.”

“You know, I’m starting to think Shindou’s right.” He jokingly retorts, not quite rude but a far cry from reverent, respectful little Touya.

Ogata lifts his hands as a peace-making sign, but does answer fire with fire: “Well I’m not the one making googly eyes at you.”

The young prodigy is caught, but doesn’t relent. “Does this conversation have a purpose?”

“I’ve been chosen to be one of the chaperones to escort you crazy kids to Kyoto.”

 _‘Well, fuck.’_ Hikaru is not going to like this. At least more of his friends are coming. Yashiro will be there, which is always an exciting occurrence, and Kurata-san is their other chaperone –the blond gets along much better with him, so there’s that. If he has to be completely honest with himself, Touya feels quite outnumbered: social skills are not his forte, but now that he and Hikaru are… together, he will have to learn how to make nice with the people around him. That will certainly be an experience.

“You’re doing that thing again.”

The voice of the very person occupying his thought startles Akira back to reality. “What thing, Shindou?”

“That thing where you look at the void and worry over nothing.” The other pro replies, with an amused and affectionate smile on his face. “It’s gonna be fine. Hey what’s that, is it a stain?” he asks suddenly, pointing a finger around Akira’s clavicle.

Falling for it hook, line and sinker, Touya lowers his face and asks “Where?”

It lasts a second, and Hikaru flicks his finger right under Akira’s nose just as the other realizes he’s been played. “Shindou!”

It doesn’t sound nearly as reprimanding as it should, not with the way Touya touches his own nose, slightly flustered by the affectionate display. Both of them remember a fraction of a second too late that the entire exchange happened right before Ogata-sensei’s eyes.

If the amused, albet mildly impressed look the Juudan is giving him is any indication, Hikaru can conclude one thing: _‘He knows.’_ That’s one of the downsides of having a circle of acquaintances made up entirely of very perceptive people. There’s not much that goes undetected. _‘Well, I guess you’re just gonna have to live with it,_ sensei _.’_

All in all, Shindou doesn’t really dislike Ogata, he can actually appreciate how the man takes care of Akira as he would for a little brother, but still. He’s gonna have to learn to share, because Hikaru is here to stay.

 

They manage to see Isumi off before his Ooteai match for the day, and they also run into Ochi, which is absolutely flabbergasted by Touya’s new appearance.

“W-wh-what the hell is that?”

“Well, I’ve only been doing this for five days, including today, so I'm by no means an expert, but I’d say it’s a dress.” Shindou briefly wonders if he’s rubbing off on his rival, judging by the amount of sass Akira’s giving off at the moment, “Really, Ochi-kun, you’re quite late to the party.”

With more resignation than a man thrice his age, Ochi levels a stare on Hikaru. “Do I even want to know?”

The blond ponders the question for a second, before shoving his hands in the pockets of his white slacks and shrugging. “You really don’t.”

There’s a second of awkward silence, and Ochi sighs. “I’ll trust you on that.” Is all he says, before making his way to his own game for the day.

The younger boy’s absolute distaste for the entire thing somehow amuses Akira a lot, and before he knows it he’s erupting into laughter –so much so that he has to lean onto a doorframe for support.

He’s completely caught off-guard when Hikaru sneaks a peck on his lips. “Hikaru, what—”

“Sorry.” The other whispers, “It’s just that you’re too beautiful when you laugh. It makes me want to kiss you.”

“Well, you’re gonna have to hold it until we’re in a more appropriate place to do so.” Touya mumbles, gaining back his composure, before developing a sharper edge to his gaze and grabbing a fistful of Shindou’s collar, “If I can hold back, then so can you.” He hisses, centimeters away from his face, before releasing him, winking and walking away.

Hikaru is mildly staggered to hear that –for all his brilliance and reading skills, it hadn’t really occurred to him that Touya actually finds _him_ physically attractive, as much as he feels for Akira. Truth is, guys like Hikaru never really think about themselves much in terms of appearance, so to hear those words from his rival –and now boyfriend– is an unexpected, but not at all unwanted surprise.

The preparations go over well, and they have the rest of the day free until the Shinkansen leaves at eight in the evening.

“Have you done all your packing?”

Akira levels his boyfriend with the who-do-you-think-I-am-you-dumbass look, but smiles at him all the same. “I already have my outfits picked out. All the other essential are done, and the magnetic set as well.”

“Cool. Wanna come to my place and help _me_ pack, since I’m such a lost cause?” out of all the things he expected Hikaru to say, that isn’t one of them.

The blond surprised even himself with how smooth that sounded, and valiantly fights down the blush at the implications, focusing more on the hope Akira will say yes.

The young prodigy mulls it over for a second, worrying his lower lip with is teeth, before nodding. “Sure. I haven’t even seen your new place yet, so…” he glances around him to make sure nobody is in sight, before taking Hikaru’s arm like he’s rapidly becoming fond of doing, “Lead the way.”

 

Predictably, they only do a little bit of packing as they step into Hikaru’s apartment, since both players’ eyes fall on the goban pretty soon. It starts with a playful “Hey Akira, upper left hoshi.” that has the ebony haired boy sit down at the goban while Shindou half-heartedly shoves things into his half-made backpack; and it’s not long before Hikaru decides packing can wait and sits down with Touya, recreating the game they could never finish yesterday up to where they left off.

Things change when the young prodigy sees Shindou retaliate against his atari with a tsuke at 10-6. For some reason, the bold move, so typical of Hikaru, makes him act on a whim, something he’s wanted to try for a long while now but never had the courage to. He slides his goke over towards the other’s hands, giving him the white stones as well.

“11-9.” He directs, getting on all fours to crawl around the playing surface and settling himself beside Hikaru, close enough that he can snakes both his arms around the other while the blond places his hand.

“You’re cheating.” Shindou protests, voice faltering but picking up his own stone to counter nonetheless. “18-7.” He adds, as an afterthought, not sure whether or not Akira can see the board, from where he’s kissing his shoulder.

“Consider it concentration training.” Is all that Touya whispers, getting bolder and moving his lips closer to Hikaru’s neck and his hands closer to the hem of the other’s shirt. “18-6.”

“I hate you, so much.” The breathy tone of his voice and the way he obediently places the next stone tell another story, and neither of them believes it. “18-8.”

Almost as if progressively spurred on by the prowess with which Hikaru is countering his moves, Akira manages to wedge himself between his boyfriend and the goban, so that Shindou has to maneuver his arms around him in order to place the stones. “7-8.” He instructs, taking care to rake his hand over the bicep that comes forward to place the hand and prompting a shiver from Hikaru.

Something snaps in him at this point, and the blond grips Touya’s waist tightly with his right hand as he uses the left to all but slam his final attack: “Tengen.”

Akira’s eyes widen slightly, and for a moment he says nothing, opting instead to kiss the living daylights out of his rival.

“Mmh—Touya—” Hikaru can’t say he’s complaining, but it’s very unfair to make him choose between the most passionate game he played in a while and kissing Akira. “It’s— your turn…”

Akira smiles coyly against his lips, and sits back just enough to reach behind him with one arm and swipe all the stones off the board without taking his eyes off his rival. “I have nothing.” He breathes, lunging forward again to capture Hikaru’s lips instead.

Shindou finally gets on board with the idea and chuckles, letting himself be pushed back and straddled. “Thank you for the game.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Well, then. Hikaru can add ‘arousal’ to the list of reason Touya will ever swear. He has to admit, though, it does turn him on in return. They kiss like that, on his bedroom floor, for a while, until finally Hikaru gathers some courage and gropes the back of Akira’s thighs, not so subtly making his way up under the skirt.

The throaty sound that escapes Akira’s lips makes his pants feel decidedly uncomfortable. Clearly, neither of them is willing to give up territory, not even in this, and Touya is quick to tug at Hikaru’s shirt, to pull it up and away and start roaming his hands on his rival’s surprisingly firm torso.

Hikaru leans up, kissing and biting his way along his rival’s neck and collarbone, something that has been driving him crazy since day 1; and Touya rewards him with more of those delicious sounds, as he lets Shindou trail one hand up his back and fiddle with the zipper of his dress.

“Hikaru…” oh, the sound of his name coming off Akira’s lips like that is nothing short of heaven. “Can I…?”

Putting aside the thought that Touya can do whatever the hell he wants if he asks him with _that_ tone, Shindou nods all too eagerly when he feels more than sees his boyfriend’s hand tugging at his belt.

It would have been a perfect moment, if not for the sudden, blaring and unrepentant ringtone echoing through the otherwise silent room. They both jump out of their skin, and Akira hides his face in Hikaru’s chest as the blond reluctantly sits up to answer. “What?”

His voice is rougher and lower than usual, still thick with unsatisfied desire.

“Whoa, dude, chill.” On the other side of the line, Waya isn’t entirely sure he wants to know, “I just called to tell you that Isumi won his match today! He’s gonna be a 4-dan when you guys come back. We should all go out and celebrate!”

“That’s… that’s great.” Normally, Hikaru would have been ecstatic to hear it, but as he’s recently learning, timing is a thing that matters a lot.

“Wow, dial down the enthusiasm, don’t wanna get too happy, there…” Yoshitaka comments, sarcastic at first, but then he hears a giggle on the other end of the line that is most definitely _not_ Shindou and _understands_. “…oh. Crap. I’m uh… just gonna hang up now, ok?”

“Yeah.” Hikaru agrees, running his free hand through Akira’s long hair as he holds the other on his lap. “Oh and Waya?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re the worst cockblock ever.” That one sends Waya into sputters on the other side, but Hikaru doesn’t bother to listen to it as he hangs up while his friend is still shouting “Dude! TMI!”

Mood effectively killed, the blond sighs, able to at least enjoy the feeling of his rival’s hair underneath his hands, something that he’s pretty much always wondered about.

Akira seems to like it, so much so that he basically curled up on his lap like a kitten. “You should probably finish packing.” He says, after a while, not really wanting to move from his boyfriend warm and deliciously shirtless embrace, but trying to be the mature one there.

“I probably should.” The other agrees, reluctantly standing both of them up and closing up the zipper of Akira’s dress. Other than that, Touya doesn’t look too much worse for the wear, and the quick once-over he gives himself in Hikaru’s mirror, while the blond picks up and clears the fallen stones, confirms he’s good to go out.

“I’ll go get my bag and see you at the station.” He says, now very excited at the prospect of a weekend together in Kyoto. Shindou is clearly thinking along the same line, if the smile he’s giving him is any indication.

And he plays the perfect host, dutifully seeing his rival out –still shirtless and stealing one last, long kiss, but hey, baby steps.

 

When they meet back up at the Shinkansen, Kurata literally can’t stop fretting over how cute Akira is, which makes Yashiro mildly uncomfortable –ha had seen the article on GoWeekly but the real thing was… different. The other three shodan that were following them, two girls and a boy, all of them barely even sixteen, were too nervous and tense to even speak to them, and it falls upon Hikaru to get Yashiro to ease up a bit and get reacquainted with what he then jokingly defines “Touya 2.0”.

The Shinkansen ride to Kyoto is 2 hours and 20 minutes which the young newcomers spend happily chatting about this and that, and asking questions to the older pros, obviously honoured and starry-eyed at the idea of being chaperoned by such masters… Shindou is mildly bored and wonders whether their opinion would change if they knew Kurata-san is a weirdo and Ogata-san  a creep; while Touya…

Bless him, the young prodigy never cared much for long travel, and if his father was in the Country he could have told them that his boy always got a bit motion sick, which his body responded to by falling asleep. And sure enough, Akira conked out, falling sideways in Hikaru’s lap and looking, thanks to his dress and natural grace, like the perfect picture of sleeping beauty.

It draws more than one “aww” from other passengers that happen to see them, and those who don’t know who they are even comment on what a cute couple they make.

“Doesn’t it bother you? That all these people think you guys are together?” Yashiro tentatively ask, voice respectfully low to not wake their sleeping companion –and his vaguely aware of what sounded distinctly like a derisive snort from Ogata-sensei, in the seats just behind them.

As a reply, Hikaru only puts a finger to his mouth, inviting his friend to be even more quiet with a secretive smile on his face. “Not really.” He offers, whispering, “Not since…”

Kyoharu turns to try and listen, thinking Shindou dropped his voice even lower, but then realizes the other hasn’t even bothered finishing the phrase at all, busy as he is carding his fingers through his sleeping rival’s hair.

It looks way more intimate than it should, had it been simply two very close friends, And Yashiro feels himself blush as he respectfully turns away from the pair and decides to lean over towards the other row when he hears a question from one of the three shodan that he knows the answer to.

 

They arrive at the Kyoto Ryokan well into eleven p.m., and Touya is visibly exhausted despite having slept off most of the ride.

The sight of the respected (and kinda feared) Touya Akira, sleepy and grumpy after a long train ride, is absurdly endearing, and Yashiro can kind of see why Shindou is indulging the other so much. Also, to the unknowing eye –which is most people in Kyoto – the duo really looks like a couple from the outside, and Kyoharu has to admit, Touya would make a damn beautiful girlfriend.

He slaps himself in the face to get rid of such ridiculous thoughts, reminding himself that Touya is just rising up to an idiotic challenge and Shindou is… well, Shindou.

They’re close.

That’s it.

…right?

 

They get to the assigned rooms, which sees the old dream-team from their first Hokuto-cup together again, the shodan trio also together, and one room for each chaperone adjacent to each group respectively.

Shindou doesn’t look too happy about the idea of Ogata-sensei watching over them; and Yashiro tries not to think too much about the implications of the dissatisfied glare his fellow pro shoots at the older man, that gets countered with an amused smirk and an admonishment of "Don't know, not gonna ask, but _do_ remember we're here to work, kiddo."

The blond is even less happy at the sight of the three single beds in the room –which aside from that is quite big and fancy, and Yashiro sees absolutely nothing wrong with it.

That is, until Touya Akira turns his back on them and ask Shindou to please help him out of the dress, in a voice that could have been just tired but… _‘No. Just, no.’_

And yet, the look on Shindou’s face as he wordlessly complies, undoing the zipper on the back for Akira, and then watches the young prodigy politely disappear into the bathroom to have a shower and get changed… it couldn’t be. Could it?

“Shindou… are you two… actually together?” it takes a while for him to gather the courage to actually ask, and when he does he feels stupid for even asking, as the answer is more a confirmation of the obvious than it is new information.

“Huh? Oh… I guess you deserve to know, since we’re all gonna be roommates.” Hikaru shrugs, gigawatt smile plastered on his face, “Yeah, we’re together.” He confirms blissfully, just as Akira comes back, dress neatly folded in his hands and sleepwear consisting only of gym shorts and an oversized t-shirt that hangs slightly on one shoulder.

The young prodigy looks from Yashiro’s embarrassed face to Hikaru’s normally cheerful one, deduces the topic of the conversation, and decides he’s too tired to give the slightest fuck. “Bathroom’s free.” Is all he says, plopping down on the middle bed after properly storing his dress away in his suitcase.

Hikaru can’t help but laugh affectionately at the sight of sleepy, grumpy Akira all rumpled up and already hiding in the sheets, and Yashiro promptly volunteers to be the next one to the bathroom, if only to leave the lovebirds some privacy; even though he still sees with the corner of his eye the way Shindou steps towards the bed and leans over, to tenderly kiss Touya goodnight, before the other pro clocks completely out for the evening.

This weekend is definitely going to be something else.

 

_~tbc~_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Yashiro.  
> I do like him, and I have plenty of cute awkward moments in mind, I just hope I can fit them all in the story.


	7. Day 6 - Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You give me… all kinds of obscene thoughts.”
> 
> “Come on, then. Show me what you’ve got.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, porn.  
> Well, not quite. I'm absolute rubbish at writing sex scenes, so apologies in advance for that.  
> Dress for the day: https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1KSurKFXXXXcvXVXXq6xXFXXXF/Hot-font-b-Sale-b-font-Black-And-White-Lace-font-b-Japanese-b-font-Kimono.jpg  
> my second favorite along the caramel one, like... I don't care who you are, this shit is BEAUTIFUL. And it'd look so good on Akira.
> 
> Anyway. Sadly unbeta'ed, as usual.  
> It got away from me, AS USUAL (I literally had to give it a quick read over just to remember what the fuck was going on, idek guys, my hands just go on their own).  
> and well.  
> enjoy the sex.

The schedule for the day is pretty much as straightforward as can be: first there’ll be the demonstration games which will pitch the young international pros against one another for the public’s entertainment –this time Akira is the one pitched against the fearsome Ko Yeongha, while Hikaru will have the chance to catch up with Hong Suyeong and Yashiro will test his might against genius tech-player Yang-hai.

Then there will be the Q&A session, which will feature their chaperones mostly, while they will be more or less free to roam around with some allotted times during which visitors can request a shidougo session; after that it will be basically free reign, allowing the visitors to explore the expositions and check out merchandise, and lastly, there’ll be a small private party of sorts in the resort’s ballroom, because apparently Go pros are allowed to be fancy bastards when they’re over 18.

Hikaru finds himself quite looking forward to it, especially when he sees what Touya steps out of the bathroom in.

“The theme for today is go.” Which explains the black and white, the blond muses, and the inspiration towards a more ‘traditional’ style –despite the final result not really looking traditional in the literal sense of the word. It’s shaped like a furisode, but the black kimono has white, sheer embroidered lace all along the chest’s edges and the sleeve trim, plus white frill inserts roughly at elbow height, the obi belt is black with a white outer trim and bow, and the layered skirt is sectioned in the middle with an entire layer of white sheer that goes all around. Sai would have literally squaled at the sight, no doubt declaring Akira the most adorable creature ever.

 _‘That’s gonna be a bitch to take off… but goddamn I_ am _gonna try.’_ He looks at his rival and licks his lips, already mentally searching for chances to end up alone with him somewhere, and only when Yashiro clears his throat does he manage to control himself.

“Um. It looks very nice, Touya-kun.” He shrugs, mostly because it felt rude not to comment, and he has to admit that the getup does look good on the other pro. Hell, if the Go profession ever bored him, he has a future as a Lolita –he knows quite a few guys who would happily pay for the chance to parade around and take pictures with such a beautiful person.

The prodigy nods his thanks, before kneeling to fiddle with one of the straps of his black doll heels, while Shindou busies himself with his black velvet tie –it doesn’t take a Go genius to know that they’re both stalling, and Yashiro smirks a little despite himself. “I’ll go tell Ogata-sensei that we’re ready to go out.” Hikaru finds himself on the receiving hand of a conspiratorial wink that clearly implies Yashiro is going to take his sweet time reaching Ogata’s door; and once again the blond is grateful to have such good friends.

Akira understood as well, and moves in front of his boyfriend as soon as they’re alone. “You’re doing it wrong again.” He asserts, undoing the messy excuse for a tie and doing it over properly. “There. _Now_ you’re handsome.”

Touya’s teasing earns him a long, hard kiss. “Aren’t you glad you decided not to wear lipstick, for today?” Hikaru whispers to him between kisses, lovingly running both hands through the other’s long, dark hair.

“Not that I’ll need it.” Akira manages to breath out, “My lips are gonna be plenty red after you’re done with me.” It feels so natural to fool around like this with Hikaru, like he was always meant to be held by those arms; it’s almost like they’ve always been head over heels for each other –and it’s true, in a sense. They just never thought about getting physical before.

 _‘And boy, should we make up for lost time!’_ the young prodigy thinks, as the feel of Shindou’s tongue in his mouth does something indecent to his mind, but now it’s not the time, nor the place. “Ease up, _tiger_ , we do have to leave the room.” He reminds, reluctantly disentangling himself from the oh-so-inviting embrace.

The blond is rapidly loving what is accidentally becoming his pet name, and just to keep up the martial arts references, he fishes back up a fond memory. “Fine.” He relents, sighing wistfully while giving the other a look that speaks volumes, “You’re gonna be mine soon enough, _dragon_.”

“Dragon? Where does that come from?”

“I’ll tell you another time. Let’s go before I make us both late.” They compose themselves and exit the room, just in time to see Yashiro knock on their sensei’s door.

 

The meeting with the foreign pros goes just about how Hikaru had expected –with Ko Yeongha being his usual jackass self and sending a look in Akira’s direction that the blond does _not_ approve of.

“Well, well.” He says in rickety, accented Japanese, “That’s certainly a… step up, from the dull 16-year old boy I remember.” He smirks at Shindou’s very palpable possessiveness, which he clearly finds hilarious and deliberately makes eyes at Akira, for the sole purpose to rile up the Japanese pro more.

Suyeong seems much nicer by comparison, as he excitedly points and exclaims: “Ga In! You look like Ga In!”, which Touya blinks at, confused, while Hikaru and Yashiro stifle a laugh.

“I’m sorry, I look like what?” Touya, bless his soul, kind of missed the tone behind Yeongha’s compliment, not quite oblivious anymore but not really entertaining the notion that anyone beside Hikaru could ever try to flirt with him –his mind defaulted to the Korean player being a not very nice person and saying things just to make fun of him.

It’s Yang Hai who steps in to save the day. “I assure you, it’s a compliment.” He guarantees, wondering how a boy Touya’s age can even not know about the very beautiful and famous Koran singer, which is basically the wet dream of half the Asian men all around the continent. “He’s saying you look like a celebrity.”

Hikaru makes a mental note to show him as soon as they get their hands on a computer, if only to enjoy the absolute storm of outrage that’s going to be Touya yelling that he absolutely does not look like that; and they sit down for their friendly matches, which will be in the order Touya-Ko, Shindou-Hong and Yashiro-Yang. Yeongha doesn’t miss the chance to piss off Shindou some more: “I hope you forgive me if the level of my play is not quite 100%, Touya-kun… some things can be… a little distracting.”

Shindou rolls his eyes. _‘Like what, a raging boner?’_ he is definitely not impressed, but Touya, bless his soul, still doesn’t quite get it, thinking Yeongha is calling his dress ridiculous, instead of arousing.

“I understand, Yeongha-san, but surely you’re above losing your cool because of a mere _skirt_ , are you?” he asks, face the picture of innocence personified as he casts a sideways glance to Hikaru, who is currently trying not to choke with laughter –sassy-Touya is becoming quickly his favourite, and the absolute ice with which he relays that he is basically insulted by the very idea to receive anything less than a perfect game is music to Shindou’s ears, “After all, somebody else already played me while I was in a similar getup and they offered me an excellent game; so it is possible.”

And _that_ even makes Hikaru forgive the fact that Akira has apparently completely missed Yeongha’s innuendo.

Despite all the banter, though, everything disappears except the goban, at the start of the timer, and the commentators really have their work cut out for them for each and every one of the three games, all turning out to be brilliant.

Akira manages to swipe a half moku victory from Yeongha, who kept pushing and pushing but got too cocky in yose; Hikaru also fares well against Suyeong, bringing home a one-half moku lead, and Yashiro puts up an epic fight against Yang Hai’s computer-like mind, staying behind for most of the game but coming back with a much fought-over half moku as well.

It’s the first time in many years that domestic pros have three for three wins, even though the occasion is unofficial, and the audience is awed by all the participants equally.

The post-game discussion sees a shower of compliments for all the parts involved, and a moment of laughter at Touya’s comment about Yeongha thinking he could push him around through yose “Didn’t I say not to underestimate go players in skirts?” as a clear throwback to Amano-san’s article.

Then the Q&A session with the higher dans starts, and the young boys get their well-earned freedom. The first thing Suyeong says to Shindou when they step down from the game stage is: “I thought I got strong enough to pass you but… it never ends with you!”

It makes Hikaru glad both for the recognition of his getting stronger and stronger with the passage of time, and for the fact that Suyeong’s Japanese greatly improved, as opposed to his barely there grasp of Korean. “Still. You kept me on my toes there. I can’t afford to slack off!” he replies, cheerfully offering the other a fist bump which is gladly reciprocated, as they all more or less roam around.

“Ah, that reminds me: 1-3.” Touya’s voice joins in on the conversation after excusing himself from Yang Hai, and both Koreans stop and stare.

“Not letting that slide, huh? Fine.” The blond rolls his eyes, “8-1.”

They exchange coordinates like that for a couple of seconds, and Yang Hai can’t help but ask: “Are they playing a game in their minds?”

“Yeah, they started it this morning in the hotel room.” Yashiro confirms, sighing, “They started fighting about who had the advantage in the corner and decided to stop it before somebody drew blood.”

For professionals at their level blind-go isn’t all that hard, but recalling half a game from the morning after having another game in the middle… it does take some skill. Yeongha is impressed. And also finds them slightly creepy.

“3-4, and that’s another one down.” Shindou grumbles, after ten or so exchanged hands, which in turn makes Akira break into a self-satisfied smile.

“2-2, and it’s over. The corner is _mine_.”

They look at each other for a couple of seconds, until finally Hikaru caves. “Fine! Fine, you don’t have to be so smug about it!”

Akira covers his mouth to somewhat hide the laughter, and the blond lifts his arm on instinct, to swing it around the other’s waist, before he realizes they’re still in public and pretends to just stretch his arms out and up.

Yashiro nearly facepalms. _‘Only you would do that move backwards, Shindou.’_ Literally all six of them noticed –even though they mercifully pretend not to. But Ko Yeongha’s face does turn up into a smirk at the prospect to poke more fun at the two.

Eventually they get separated to go do their respective shidougo sessions, and when they reunite, it’s near the tables of the Tokyo shodan players who came along for the ride. The oldest girl is playing a Chinese shodan, and the other two are against each other.

The younger girl just played a seemingly pointless hand against the boy, but the pattern on the goban sends a wave of nostalgia through Hikaru, powerful enough that he moves right beside Touya and sneakily holds his hand, eyes still on the board to predict the next few moves. “Remind you of anyone?” he asks, not even bothering to hide the affection in his tone. Yang Hai and Yashiro are following quite interestedly the match between the Tokyo and Chinese shodan, and even if Yeongha were to notice… good.

“Yeah, of a madhouse.” The prodigy bumps the other’s shoulder through their linked arms, but Akira gets it, he really does. The similarities in style are vague, but there nonetheless, and he can only be glad these two found each other so early on.

Eventually, the two shodan notice the rivals following their game and get visibly nervous about the star players of the so-called new wave watching them, and Hikaru coaxes Akira away to not let their presence ruin the game, with one request from the girl: “Oh, but do tell us who won, later!” he calls with a wink.

Playing host for the foreign pros is hard work –mostly because Hikaru is mad that they can’t ditch them to go kissing somewhere – but they do enjoy their time around the festival, looking at all the merchandise, and even some antiquities.

The blond smiles fondly at the sight of a piece Sai once told him about, from his time with Torajiro in Kyoto, and it turns into a smirk as he sees Yeongha observe the antique with a certain degree of fascination.

“Not trash-talking Torajiro anymore, are we?” he can’t help himself, and in his mind the jackass still deserves it.

“Yeah well, it doesn’t rile you as much.” Is the answer that comes from the Korean, “You’re no fun to poke at anymore.”

Shindou doesn’t know whether to be offended by the fact that Yeongha basically views him as a source of amusement or relieved by the fact that he wasn’t really offending Sai’s memory. In the end he decides for snappy, jealous-boyfriend mode that instinctively flashes alarms at him when the Korean turns to look at Touya, who is just now walking up to them: “And you think hitting on Akira is gonna give you back that ‘fun’?”

The young prodigy seems to finally catch up with them on that topic and covers his face with both hands. “Damn it, Shindou…”

“Touya-kun is _very_ pretty today. It can’t really be helped.” The emphasis is there purposefully to piss the blond off, and Yeongha keeps it just polite enough that it can be a simple compliment, so that Shindou gets mad, but can’t get _too_ mad. Even though he looks like he want to punch him.

The one saving grace for the blond is the look Touya gives the Korean, a mixture of “what the hell” and “bitch, please”, not quite sure of the implication but not quite oblivious enough for it to completely go over his head. “You keep saying that, Ko-san. I’m sorry to say, but repetition does not look good on you.” It’s enough to reassure Shindou that no, he’s _not_ going to let the Korean flirt with him and get away with it, which is pretty successful in calming Shindou down.

Oh. It would seem that Yeongha is a day late and a dollar short, as they say. What was hilariously repressed and unsaid a couple years ago is very much present and consensual now –bummer, he can’t really enjoy ruffling their feathers. Suyeong also elbows him in the side.

“Stop being an ass.” And he says it in Japanese, no doubt to let their hosts know that he wants _no_ part in whatever Yeongha thought he was doing.

Yashiro just shakes his head and wonders how such brilliant and strong go players can still bicker like little kids –but then again, Shindou does have a tendency to get oversensitive about anything concerning Touya, it was a thing even before they got together; and Ko is admittedly the kind of jerk who would pester the happy couple just to see how much he can annoy them.

 

The dinner party finally comes up, and Yashiro is silently praying for safety. There’s a buffet, so Hikaru is very happy, especially because it’s a fancy buffet with delicacies as far as the eye can see, and there’s music, which puts at ease those of them too young to be content with just sitting around eating expensive seafood and drinking wine.

It’s not a terribly crowded situation, but there’s a good fifty or so people –there’s the Japanese pros and their chaperones, the foreign pros and _their_ chaperones, then there’s interpreters for whoever needs them, the organizers and the sponsors. All in all, less than half of the entire party is composed of people under 30, but sure enough, after the customary and more or less formal mingling to appease the sponsors, the dance floor is being put to good use by the lively and carefree shodan, foreign and domestic alike, not to mention Ko Yeongha looking every bit the Korean idol he thinks he is, and pretty much getting most of the attention on himself –exactly like he wanted to.

Touya politely declined all requests to dance up until now on the pretence of “I don’t know how, but thank you.” And Yashiro has to applaud him for the nonchalance –especially considering he’s in a freaking dress and yet not losing an ounce of the authority all Touyas seem to be naturally equipped with…

 _‘Oh. Looks like things are about to change.’_ There was already some amusement earlier in the day, when one of the girls who booked a shidougo session with Shindou turned out to be far more interested in her teacher than in the game himself, and kept trying to get him to hold her hands claiming that she didn’t know how to properly hold the stones. Touya at that point respectfully suggested that she try actually learning the rules of the game first, proper form can come later, and pointedly mentioned that for a long while Shindou held the stones like kids with pebbles and yet here he was… it was lost on the unsuspecting girl, fortunately, but he could have sworn that the temperature in the room dropped to absolute zero as the young prodigy spoke and –despite seemingly not understanding what exactly made Touya so mad because apparently Shindou is just as unaware of people coming onto him, unless it’s Touya himself– Shindou wisely continued the session while carefully avoiding any and all touch with his student.

Coming back to the present, we can see the wild Shindou in his natural habitat, surrounded by food and loud noises, and a young shodan who proudly held her own against her Chinese opponent that finally gets brave enough to ask him to dance.

Shindou looks undecided –on one hand, he doesn’t really want to leave Touya’s side; but on the other one, it seems that he likes the song that just came up and kind of wants to dance to it… the girl sees the hesitation as an opening to insist, but before she can even think of tugging at his hand, someone else precedes her.

“Oh, Shindou, all these years and you never told me you knew how to dance?” it’s just natural, Yashiro muses, that Touya himself is the quickest to pounce on Shindou’s vulnerable position. “Come on, teach me!”

The icy quality to his voice is almost funny –at least it is to Yashiro, because he’s not on the receiving end of _that_ fury. Shindou, despite being mostly inured to Touya’s rage thanks to their numerous fights, still can’t quite brush it off, so he complies when the other takes hold of both of his hands and drags him to a corner of the dance floor.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Hikaru hisses, now that they are more or less safely  ‘camouflaged’ into the dance floor;

“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you!” the young prodigy is not quite angry at Hikaru, or anyone at all, but still the situation did not please him one bit, “She was coming onto you, are you freaking _blind?!_ ”

The blonde’s flabbergasted confusion turns into scepticism, and he shoots a raised eyebrow glare at Akira. “Oh, that’s rich coming from you. I’ve literally had to shield you from Ko Yeongha’s dirty innuendos the entire fucking day.”

“That’s completely different, he was just mocking me!”

Touya’s indignant huff does not make Hikaru change his mind. “Really? I better freaking lock the doors when we go to sleep then, if that’s how he _mocks_ people.”

“Look. Even _if_ he was flirting, which he was _not_ …” Akira knows the Korean probably was, but he’s not quite ready to admit he missed it yet, “He was just doing it because he can tell it pisses you off!”

Truth to be told, Hikaru himself figured as much –hence why he still stands by his opinion that Yeongha is a jackass. “Okay… so what?”

“So…” Touya starts with an aggressive tone, but he can’t really keep it up, not while looking at his boyfriend in the eyes and admitting he’s jealous, “So it’s different: this girl is actually interested in you and was trying to have you all by herself.”

Finally, realization register on Shindou’s face, and a split second later his lips blossom into a smile. “And you didn’t like that one bit, did you?”

“You just want to hear me say it, don’t you?” Akira recognizes that tone, that smug and stupidly attractive tone Hikaru gets every time he manages to have one up on him. He crosses his arms and stubbornly refuses to meet his gaze.

Mercifully, Hikaru reaches out and grabs a hold of both of Touya’s forearms, uncrossing his arms and settling the both of them into a simple sway to the music’s beat. “Nah. You did ask me to teach you how to dance, so teach I will.” He pauses, “Do you really not know how to dance?”

“How badly would you think of me if I told you I can waltz but not do any actual ‘normal people’ dancing?”

The blond  can’t help but laugh. Of course Touya Akira can do fancy ballroom dancing without knowing how to even sway to a beat a little. “Well, it’s a start. You know all the rules they teach you about keeping your back straight and stuff?” The prodigy nods, moving to assume posture before Hikaru stops him, “Break them all. Arch into me, soften your knees, move your hips from side to side without caring if your shoulders follow or not.”

Touya bites back a smile. “It feels a bit weird.” And it does, but not in a bad way. Of course dancing with Shindou Hikaru would involve messing up everything he previously learned. It does draw a nice parallel to everything they’ve been doing together so far.

“That’s because you’re thinking too hard. You don’t have to think when you dance.” And just to prove his point, the blond pulls Touya closer to him, so they can sway and wave in sync. Akira does start to relax and just follows Hikaru’s directions… right until the moment the other decides to twirl him around, so that his back is to Hikaru’s chest and he’s basically trapped in his boyfriend arms.

“Hika— Shindou?” he calls, pulling gently against the hold to disentangle himself, “Maybe we should stop…”

Hikaru almost whines. “Why? No one is paying attention to us…”

It’s true, and even if someone was to look at them, there’s a little bit of alcohol in all those old enough to drink, and no one would think it’s much more than two close friends being stupid together –and even if anyone did, Touya doesn’t really care all that much. There’s really just one reason to stop: “Exactly. I can go tell Ogata-sensei I don’t feel that well and get the key to our room.”

 _‘The perks of dating a genius.’_ Hikaru has to bites his lips at the mere thought. “You think he’ll fall for it?”

The prodigy shrugs. “Most likely he’ll see right through me, but it’s not like he has a reason to say no. Especially if I ask when he’s not alone.”

So Touya does know that he can manipulate people through cuteness –at least at a subconscious level, Hikaru guesses. Because who would deny such a simple request to precious little Akira-kun, who ‘doesn’t feel well’ and just wants to go back to his room?

It works. It actually works better than he should have, because Ogata not only goes along with his request, despite the knowing look he gives the younger pro, but also mumbles a “Wait, wait…” and slips something else into Akira’s hand, before advising “Be _safe_ on the way back.” which brings a furiously blushing Akira back to Hikaru, that all but drags the blond away after shoving the keys and mystery object into _his hands_ , literally pretending to be coming down with a fever.

 

They start kissing before even properly opening the door to the room, and it only closes properly because Hikaru slams Akira against it once they’re inside. The breathless chuckle that escapes the prodigy’s mouth only makes Shindou want more, and he ends up bodily hoisting Touya up by his thighs, forcing the other to clasp hands behind his neck in order to not fall, and physically carries him to bed.

Akira is surprised by Shindou’s sudden display of force, but he’s not at all complaining. _‘Holy shit.’_ Quite the contrary, actually. The feeling of being thrown around like a ragdoll easily by his rival is quite arousing, and he hooks his legs around Hikaru’s waist, digging his nails into the blonde’s shoulder –he obviously is going to give as good as he gets, because when is it ever not about one-upping each other, with them?

“Take the stupid obi off before I rip it.” Hikaru all but growls when they finally tumble to bed, sitting up to tug his own shirt and tie away and undo his belt. Agonizingly slowly. Touya has to lick his lips at the sight of Hikaru undressing in front of him, literally sitting between his legs.

 _‘There’s one for the_ I didn’t know what I was missing out on _folder.’_ But he does have the presence to undo the outer obi belt knots and unwind the fabric from his waist –and not a moment too soon, considering how Shindou almost violently tugs it away, leaving him with an open kimono blouse and the skirt. It makes Touya laugh in low, excited giggles, and he lets himself be undressed, lifting his hips to allow Hikaru to pull the skirt down. Which is the moment the blond briefly freezes, pulling a knowing smirk to Akira’s lips.

“What?” he asks, having the gall to sound innocent, “You did say _full_ drag, back then, didn’t you?”

 _‘I did. Holy fuck, Akira.’_ Hikaru can’t help but stare for a second. It wasn’t a thought that really crossed his mind until now. There Akira is, in front of him, legs deliciously spread, in black booty-shorts. Admittedly, they’re not that different from boxer-briefs, but still, the frilled hem and the silky texture is enough to send all kinds of ideas through his mind. “You…” he finally breathes out, slowly raking his hands up Akira’s legs and torso, enjoying the way the other almost arches clean off the bed at the touch, “You give me… all kinds of obscene thoughts.”

Touya sits up just enough to be able to clasp his hands behind Hikaru’s neck again and kiss him languidly, before leaning forward to try and undo the clasp of his heeled shoes. He doesn’t get to –Shindou’s hand comes up over his, as the other grasps his leg at the calf and lifts it slightly, forcing Akira to lay back down. “No…” the blond whispers, fixing a gaze on him that was just moments away from burning; never breaking eye-contact as he leans down to drop a feather-like kiss on his shin. “Keep these on.”

Touya raises an eyebrow at that, but he’s not going to complain when his boyfriend is looking at him like that, so he just flops back down on the bed, and uses the pull of his free leg to invite his partner to hoist himself closer. “Come on, then. Show me what you’ve got.”

It takes a couple attempts to make sense of the tiny bottle and how exactly to use the product properly, but as soon as they manage to get a steady rhythm it’s like both their brains short-circuit and they start acting purely on instinct. Hikaru gets a high out of every sound that spills from Akira’s lips, and the prodigy himself gets louder almost with each thrust, raking his nails up and down Hikaru’s back until he can’t take it anymore and steals _sente_ from his rival, flipping them over in a way that nearly sends them both to the floor, but Shindou manages to keep their bodies on the bed and the reward is sweet, because Akira is now bouncing on him, and it doesn’t take long at all before his mind goes in an entirely new kind of overdrive.

“Akira…” he calls, breathless, “I’m close.”

“Me too.”

The broken voice his rival answers with and the implications of those two words are enough to completely send Hikaru over the edge –but it’s okay, because the feeling of Shindou coming undone under him is enough for Akira as well, and it only takes a couple more seconds before the prodigy’s body wounds tense like a coil, mind whiting out.

They’re cuddling in their sleepwear when they finally manage to gain back coherent thought.

“…wow.” Well, _some_ coherent thought.

“Yup.” Touya is on his side, stroking Hikaru’s cheek and absently noting that he can feel the barest hint of stubble on his rival’s chin. _‘All grown up, aren’t you?’_ for some reason, the thought is stupidly tender to him and he can't help but smile.

For his part, Shindou seems to have developed an addiction for carding his fingers through Akira’s hair –which is even longer now than it was when they were kids, touching the clavicle and almost going past. “Say, Akira…” he starts, sighing happily and hugging the other closer, “Do you think this was kinda sudden?”

“Are you kidding me?” the prodigy doesn’t even need coherent thought to answer that, “If anything, I’d say seven years of foreplay is a bit much.”

They both chuckle at that, but Hikaru does get it. They’ve always been close, even more so in the last few years. Their relationship has always gone beyond anything conventional, and they always strode to be each other’s absolute centre –it’s no wonder that the minute the option to get physical is on the table, they would go at it with everything they’ve got.

“I should go sleep in my own bed.” Touya says after a while, not without nuzzling his boyfriend’s neck first –a sentiment Hikaru wholeheartedly shares.

“Do you really have to?”

Regretfully, Akira escapes the embrace and hoists himself up a bit so that he’s half-lying on top of Shindou and can steal one more chaste kiss. “Bed’s not big enough.” Okay, two chaste kisses, “We’re gonna feel like shit tomorrow if we sleep like this.” Okay, three, but that’s it.

“…fine.” Finally conceding, the blond sits up a little to properly kiss his rival goodnight. “Hey, Akira?” he asks, lips still almost touching the other’s;

“Hmm?”

“I love you.”

Touya’s eyes close and Hikaru can feel him smile against his lips. “I know.” The prodigy says, standing up quite reluctantly and backing down painstakingly slow, “I love you too.”

With the hand that was caressing Hikaru’s cheek still outstretched, as it was the last part of him to leave the bed, Akira takes one long look at the scene before him and decides that the entire week was worth it, if only to be able to enjoy this shared moment.

It’s almost poetic that tomorrow is the last day.

 

_~tbc~_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, porn (again)!
> 
> So. I don't know what to say. Next chapter won't be the last, there'll probably be an epilogue of sorts, where Touya isn't in a dress anymore but something of the change of fashion carries over and he doesn't wear old cat lady-man clothes anymore.  
> It's baffling to me how I start out with specific scenes in mind, and entire chapters come out of it -for example, the entire Ocean chapter was built around the moment they talk about Sai.  
> The Red Wine one started from the kissing in the bathroom, more precisely from the moment when Akira stops Hikaru with a hand on his lips. The Caramel one was built around the game where Hikaru places tengen and Akira takes it as an invitation to make out....  
> ....this chapter was about the sex. I'm not even gonna try to bullshit my way out of that.  
> Theme for the next dress is gonna be Hikaru -well, technically it's gonna be "Light", but they do speak Japanese, sooo....


	8. Day 7 - Hikaru

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You know. Hanging out with you guys is not bad at all.”
> 
> “Gee, don’t sound so surprised dude.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, more chapters! I literally have to leave for work in ten minutes so this is unbeta'ed, and maybe slightly rushed, but my hands won't let me change it anymore no matter how much I try so it's done, here it is, take it.  
> Today's dress: http://www.mlo.me/uplo/v/201510/20151013/bvXgx52YAf0bQ0u.jpg
> 
> Enjoy. I don't know.

“Oh my God, Shindou, what are those bruises on your legs?” Yashiro is still very sleepy, after coming back to the room pretty late last night, just to be sure not to interrupt anything –luckily, the lovebirds left the door open for him but were already fast asleep in one bed each, which Kyoharu was grateful for… still, he got less sleep than he normally would’ve; and it’s probably the reason he’s asking a question he could have very well guessed that he doesn’t really want to know the answer to.

And he hasn’t even noticed all the marks Touya’s nails left on Shindou’s back –which is probably for the best.

For his part, Hikaru is just as sleepy, simply on account of not being a morning person, and just stares down at himself, stopping half-way to the bathroom. “What?” he muses, looking at the scatter of purple along the outer side of his legs, plainly visible as he is in his shorts. “Huh…”

From his position on the bed, sitting cross-legged and brushing his hair, already up and showered, Akira chuckles. “That was probably the heels.” He offers, not elaborating yet, and for a moment Hikaru is confused.

“Huh? You weren’t wearing heels any time we were close enough to— _oh— y_ es, you were…” but only for a moment. Shindou blushes vividly with remembrance, and Yashiro’s half-asleep mind finally starts catching up.

“I moved to take them off, and you asked me _very nicely_ not to.”

“Lalalalalalalala!!! I don’t wanna hear it!!!!” Kyoharu promptly shuts his eyes and puts both his hands on his ears; while Akira bites his lips to refrain from smiling at Hikaru with last night’s memories still apparent in his eyes –he fails.

To his credit, Shindou only smiles back grouchily, grabs his rival’s chin in a somewhat rough hold and kisses him quick and chaste on the lips. “You…” he accuses, shaking his head and not even bothering to finish the phrase before resuming towards the bathroom. _‘Welp. Time for a cold shower.’_

Dropping his hands, Yashiro turns towards Touya, once the blond disappears behind the door, and regards the other with an amused if slightly resigned sigh.

“You know…” he starts, nodding towards the door the other is currently behind, “You two do make a sweet couple. Just throwing that out.”

Which is a subtle way of saying that he thinks they’d be fine even going public –maybe it’s because he’s seen them up close as their roommate, but as of right now Yashiro thinks that only a complete idiot would say these two are not 100% made for one another. He isn’t quite sure whether Touya understands the message or not, but the young prodigy does curl up in himself, head tilted towards one shoulder in a way that is entirely too endearing for a guy who is an absolute monster on the goban.

“Thanks, Yashiro-san.” He mutters, finishing up with his hair and moving to get the last dress out of the suitcase.

Kyoharu smiles, despite himself. “So, what’s the theme for the last day?”

Akira’s eyes get the fond look they get every time something is about a certain someone. “Light.”

 

The second and last day of the convention is considerably more relaxed than the first, made mostly of lectures, shidougo and exhibitions, with free to play boards scattered all over the venue.

Touya really decided to end the week with a bang, not only basically choosing his rival’s name as the theme, but showing up in a full white dress that basically makes him glow. The high Chinese-collar was handy in hiding all the lovebites Hikaru scattered along his collarbones –black tassels contrasting nicely with the pristine white fabric, which carried a pattern of barely-there mountains and dragons that looked like they were made of watercolour ink. The skirt has tassels as well, much like the one on his neck, catching the hem and curling it up in places and showing light cream-coloured ruffles underneath.

The only other thing not white of the entire getup is a certain pair of heels that still has Hikaru mildly blushing whenever he catches sight of them.

 

Yashiro vaguely wonders if Hikaru is aware that his choice of going all nearly black for the day –black slacks and black button down with only the top button closed on the collar and open to a white t-shirt– kind of makes it look like they’re freaking getting married. He chuckles to himself at the idea, and Shindou makes an inquiring sound at him.

“Nothing it’s just… did you guys really only just got together?” he asks quietly, amusement still tinting his face, as they listen to Kurata-sensei’s lecture for the day;

“Yeah… I mean, if you mean with the—”

“ _Yes_ , thank you Shindou that was what I meant.” Still, he’d prefer as little detail as possible.

“Then yes. Couple days ago, on dress number 4.”

Yashiro shakes his head. “And yet you look like you’ve been together for ages.”

“I guess…” the blond shrugs, leaning to the side so he can bump shoulders with Akira, “It’s probably because in a sense we have, we can simply be more open now about things that deep down we’ve been feeling all along.”

That would explain it. And then Kyoharu actually remembers hearing a comment in passing, all the way back to the time of the first Hokuto cup he went to; one of Shindou’s friend, the kind of redhead one, mentioned to the guy he lost against that “they should fuck and get the tension over with”. He hadn’t really seen it at the time, worried as he was with everything else, but thinking back to the way Touya practically stormed the place _just_ to know about Shindou...

Yeah. Ages, indeed.

Touya bumps Shindou himself and brings a finger to his lip, in the classic “shut the hell up” invitation and Hikaru narrows his eyes at him –he still doesn’t like to be bossed around, but bossy Touya has a hint of sexiness to him, now, so he lets it slide, for now, and they resume following the lecture.

It takes a turn when somebody asks a question that makes Kurata absently recall a historical Shuusaku game and call their resident expert up stage to recreate it and analyse it for them –which of course prompts Ko Yeongha to criticize nearly everything he says; that doesn’t quite work at pissing him off for a while, until Shindou decides to bite, finally, and shuts him up with an open arms half-bow and an invitation of “I mean, unless you want to prove your point by coming up here and playing white against me without komi and with Edo period rules.”

For some reason unknown to anyone, Shindou is distressingly good at playing black with ancient joseki, and an absolute savage at that –like he’s used to playing someone who never really showed  him any mercy…. the Korean guesses it comes from Touya, especially considering the knowing smile on the dress-wearing pro’s face.

He guesses wrong, but only two people in the room know the truth. He doesn’t rise to the challenge, either way, even though the smirk on Shindou’s face as he mumbles “Didn’t think so.” and resumes the discussion is absolutely infuriating, Yeongha is not about to go there and prove him right. Denial still leaves him the benefit of the doubt after all.

Hikaru meets Akira’s eyes over the crowd right after that exchange, and the absurdly proud expression the prodigy is wearing on his face makes the blond’s heart flutter more than the thrill of winning a tough game –which is saying something, because he just got Ko Yeongha, idol Korean player, to shut up and sit his ass back down, but even that pales in comparison to the feeling of being on the receiving end of that look.

In the end, the lecture is interesting and Shindou even gets some compliments on his insight about Shuusaku when he steps down, and then they get free roaming time for the rest of the afternoon. Ogata-sensei asks them not to go too far and to at least check back in with him every couple of hours, but that’s about it. “I could go for some food about now. You guys coming?”

Touya shakes his head at the blond’s proposal. “I was thinking of checking out the exposition.” He says instead, “I’m thinking about getting a present for father when he comes back from China.”

D’awww, ever the dutiful son. Hikaru is not quite pleased that they’re not gonna be eating together, but it’s not like they have to be joined at the hip, so it’s fine. He goes to check out the food stalls with Yashiro –not before sneaking a caress to Touya’s fingers in goodbye. “Let’s meet back up in the garden?”

“Got it. Later, guys~”

 

At some point, Akira feels eyes on him while he’s browsing the merchandise hall for something that would be interesting for his father, but shrugs it off because he’s a man in a dress –and most of the people attending this festival do know there’s definitely a guy in this dress – so he guesses that despite the novelty having worn off it’s still a strange sight to see.

 _‘Let them look.’_ His mind tells him, _‘You’ve proved that no matter what you look like, you’re still one of the very best.’_

And hey, maybe ten years from now they’ll all look back and laugh. Polite, ‘boring’ Touya Akira pulling off a stunt like this? Huh, maybe not so boring after all.

He’d be lying if he said that particular part wasn’t as strong a reason as the will to defend his prowess in Go –he’s known for a long time that other pros his age considered him dull, it didn’t really bother him much, but then he saw Hikaru growing up and growing closer with his friends, doing ‘friend’ things that everyone thought wouldn’t interest him because he’s Touya Akira and he only ever thinks about go, and felt… excluded.

Now, no one can tell he isn’t up for fun times ever again. Putting the thought in words makes it feel so… juvenile, that Akira actually feels self-conscious in his own mind, but hey. It’s the truth. Everybody has insecurities.

After a couple hours of wandering, he decides for a book –a critical analysis on the evolution of joseki throughout history, featuring a teacher and a historian working together to examine both the technical and cultural aspects. Sounds like an interesting enough read.

He politely thanks the clerk for wrapping the book for him and complimenting his dress as well, but feels eyes on him again as he leaves. It’s more insistent, this time, and feels familiar.

Without wasting time, he sets towards the garden at a brisk pace. It’s absurd, his mind supplies, that someone would follow him all the way to Kyoto just because of a stupid dress; and he doesn’t really want to look back for confirmation, not when the hallway leading to the garden is conveniently empty –like, what the hell, it’s late but not that late– and yet…

It’s him. The same man who was obsessing over his lectures at the Bunkamura gallery and followed him around until he found sanctuary with Hikaru.

Touya makes the mistake of turning his back to him to try and pick up the pace. A hand suddenly grabs his wrist and yanks him hard against a wall. Right then and there, Akira does the one thing he thinks could save him –pride be damned. He screams Hikaru’s name at the top of his lungs.

 

Yashiro and Hikaru had caught up with Suyeong and Yanghai, and the four of them were hanging out and talking casually in the gardens while they waited for Akira to come back to meet them.

“Well it’s not like much changed since— what was that?” Hikaru’s head shoots up at the sound of some kind of commotion just down the hall.

“What was what?” Kyoharu can’t ask fast enough, because they hear what sounds like a scream next, and Shindou is already running, seeing red.

“That was Akira!!!”

The scene he gets to is the one he was afraid of the most. Akira is holding his own, yanking away and trying to escape the man’s clutches by trying to punch him in the chest, but the attacker is relentless, and probably out of his mind, as he kind of deliriously shouts things at Akira as he holds him by the wrists with one hand and pulls at his dress and shoulder with the other.

Things like “You’re so beautiful!”, and “You always were beautiful!” and “You have to be mine!” and all the kinds of insane bullshit you’d expect by a psycho; while Akira struggles valiantly and yells at the man to get away. He doesn’t get very far anyway, because as soon as they get there Hikaru steps behind Akira and throws a proper punch to the man’s jaw, effectively knocking him down.

Yashiro wasted no time in calling Ogata-sensei on the phone to let him know about the accident; and Yang Hai joins in with Hikaru to restrain the man in order to not let him get away. Once they have a good grip on him, Yang Hai nods at Shindou, who is only mildly surprised and nods back at him before immediately getting to Akira’s side.

Touya is only slightly trembling, but takes fistfuls of the front of Hikaru’s shirt and hangs on for dear life as soon as his boyfriend’s arms are around him.

“Are you okay?” the blond murmurs, not even caring who sees as he speaks with his lips against Touya’s temple.

Akira nods, still shaking a bit. “I’m okay.” He takes a long, shaky breath, but manages a smile, “I knew you’d hear me. I knew you’d be here.”

Ogata, who had been up to his elbows in a teaching session at the moment, drops everything and all but storms down to the hall ready to kill –which, despite being just a moment too late, reminds Hikaru why he doesn’t really dislike the sensei: he cares about Akira, a lot, and the young pro can relate.

Cops also come in, to the sensei’s insistence, but Seiji does manage to keep it quiet –more for the sake of not putting Akira under even more of a spotlight than he already is, which the prodigy appreciates greatly, than not disrupting the festival (but everyone is sure the organizer will be very grateful).

The attacker apparently was already a registered sex offender, particularly keen on stalking beautiful young boys; and the police took him away without missing a beat –Akira’s statement and the other witnesses confirmation providing a sure way of finally throwing the man in the slammer after lack of evidence had him walk out in the past.

“And I mean it.” The Juudan is still talking with the inspector who came to take their statements after securing the attacker, and his tone of voice clearly infers that he’s _not_ messing around, “If I see that man out of jail anytime soon, or if I ever see him within even a 50 mile radius of the Go Institute or any place related to Go in the entire national territory, I _will_ be pissed.”

“Considering the circumstances, he’ll be behind bars for a while, but we can get a court order to forbid him to ever get close to Touya-san ever again.”

“ _Yes please,_ do that.” Seiji doesn’t seem completely satisfied, but it’s enough for now. Shindou really does appreciate the fact that the sensei is handling the legal things so that he can concentrate on comforting Touya.

All in all, it’s a mildly traumatic experience, but the knowledge that the now not-so-invisible threat that had Hikaru escort Akira home  couple days ago was finally over and done with is extremely relieving. Also, Hikaru kinda feels good about making the right call in ‘protecting’ Akira the first time around and rushing to his rescue this time.

They spend the rest of the evening hugging, and nobody even dares to say anything to them as Hikaru keeps an arm protectively around Akira’s shoulders most of the time, and lovingly caresses his temple with his other hand whenever they have enough privacy –which seems to calm down Touya a lot, and by the end of the evening he seems to feel better and have put the whole ordeal past him.

“Guys, can we like… push all the beds together for tonight?” Not completely past him, then.

Yashiro could understand. He would have thought Touya would want to just cuddle his boyfriend, but apparently he just felt like being safe with his friends. And Shindou was quick to add “Hell yeah! I promise we won’t do any gross boyfriend stuff in front of you, it’ll be just like a sleepover!”

Also, the silver-haired pro experienced first-hand how nobody ever say no to adorable pleading Touya-kun. It takes some maneuvering and lots of noise, but finally they get in their pjs and lump all the beds together. Akira is in the middle, lying on his side, with Hikaru hugging him from the back and Yashiro on his other side.

They gathered up some kifus from recent games and raided the minibar so they’re now basically lying in bed, eating junk food and talking.

“Okay, enough with games.” Yashiro says at one point, flicking the papers aside, “Who’s up for some ghost stories?”

Akira turned to look at Hikaru and they smiled at each other –it wasn’t a mushy boyfriends smile, though; it was more of a “We know something that you don’t” smile, which confused Kyoharu a bit, but they just settled in more comfily in their embrace and turned back to him.

“Sure.” Shindou said, smirking like the cocky guy who boasts to never get scared, “What you got?”

Ghost stories with Shindou, Yashiro found out, was kind of an anticlimactic endeavour, seeing as the blond really didn’t get scared, while Kyoharu had hoped his bravado was just that; also he quite strangely treated the creepy urban legends like real situations. When the story about the poem of death came up, the blond just mused that of course you get killed if you just read the poem as a dare and you don’t even know who the author is, you gotta pay your respects.

When the Red-Cloak story came on he suggested that instead of succumbing to the spirit’s homicidal intent you should just ask that he takes off _his_ red cloak instead of putting one on you, and that would make him realize he’s dead and go away… and now this.

“Well you gotta put yourself in her shoes.” He comments, after hearing the Kuchisake-onna story for the first time, “If she really is a vengeful spirit angry at her husband for slicing her face in half, of course she’s gonna kill you regardless of your answer.”

“You sound surprisingly calm about it Hikaru.” Akira mumbles. He never heard about that particular story himself before, and he found it more sad than scary –Kuchisake apparently was a lady of incredible beauty, with a very jealous and overbearing husband. When he got into his head the idea that his wife was cheating on him, he went crazy and took a sword to her mouth, shouting “Who’s gonna find you beautiful now?!” as he disfigured and killed her. She became a vengeful spirit and is said to walk along the streets with a surgical mask on, stopping people on the streets and asking “Am I beautiful?” and ripping off the mask just when you’re about to answer.

Yashiro just finished saying, that if you say yes she pulls out a pair of scissors and slices your mouth open; and if you say no, she pulls out a giant pair of scissors and chops off your head.

Hikaru, coming from a situation where he dealt with a real, bona-fide ghost, clearly thinks outside the box in that regard: “She’s not really looking to be called beautiful. What you have to say to her is that there’s nothing wrong with her, and she looks normal.”

Kyoharu is confused. Here he is, trying to make them crap their pants with horror stories that may or may not have a true story at the root, and Shindou instead is talking about _helping_ the vengeful ghosts find peace. “Wha— Shindou, how do you even— do I _want_ to know?”

“You really don’t.” the two rivals answer in unison, and Yashiro gives up. He flops himself back down on the bed, facing the ceiling.

“I give up.” He vocalizes and they all laugh together. “You know. Hanging out with you guys is not bad at all.”

“Gee, don’t sound so surprised dude.” Hikaru protests, reaching over to lightly punch Kyoharu in the shoulder, and then resuming his favourite past time of brushing his fingers through Touya’s long, silky hair.

Which brings a sudden curiosity to Yashiro’s mind: “Why do you wear your hair that long?”

“Yes, Akira, why do you wear your hair that long, besides driving me crazy?” Shindou pipes in, opting to also nuzzle the prodigy’s neck just to pester him some more –which sends Touya into giggles because he apparently has a sensitive neck.

“Well, I— Hikaru, stop that!” he pauses, to slap a hand in front of the blond’s face to stop his relentless nuzzling, “I never thought about it until a couple years ago. There was this one time, when I was little… my mother told me I had to go get my hair cut and apparently I threw a huge tantrum because I absolutely did not want to. And since it was the first time I ever showed interest in something besides go, she let me grow it out.” The admittedly adorable anecdote sends Shindou in a fit of laughter punctuated here and there with comments about how freaking cute that is, but Touya finishes the story despite his boyfriend’s ‘attacks’. “Then I got used to it, and it just became what I look like, and when I turned sixteen I decided… fuck it, I like it and I’m keeping it long.”

“Halle-fucking-lujah for that.” Shindou clearly approves, and makes a point of sniffing the other’s hair and kissing the side of his head.

“Okay, okay, settle down, nobody’s gonna steal your perfect little prince from you.” Kyoharu jokingly swats at Hikaru to make him stop being a gross boyfriend, but it’s all fun and games, and they all fall asleep laughing like little kids.

Touya’s final thought while drifting off is that the final tally for wearing dresses for an entire week is… strange, to say the least. He got loads of strange looks, he met some initial resistance on the goban but still eventually got recognized as a powerful player; he received lots of support, some crass comments here and there, he got attacked by one psycho but was bravely rescued by his surprisingly strong boyfriend –when he asked where did Hikaru learn to punch like that, the blond just shrugged and reminded him that gobans are freaking heavy, and growing up moving those around gave him a decent enough upper body. Which explains why Akira doesn’t have quite the same degree of strength, having always been surrounded by adults that moved the heavy stuff for him, the precious child genius.

Still, the very fact that he and Hikaru were finally able to get over all the unspoken feeling between them and get together… it did make the entire thing worth it.

Just before falling asleep, he hears Hikaru whisper to him: "Hey, Akira?"

"Hm?"

"I can't wait for tomorrow." the blonde's words bring a knowing smile to his face.

"Why's that?" he asks, already knowing the answer.

"I get better looking everyday."

Akira shakes his head at the little throwback. "Goodnight, Hikaru."

 ...And hey, he gets to keep the heels that drove Hikaru absolutely nuts.

 

_~tbc~_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah.  
> Idek.  
> There will be an epilogue of not-lolita-anymore-Akira, but that's tales for tomorrow (?)  
> okbye


	9. Epilogue - Akira

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Sai would be so proud of you.”
> 
> “No, he would be proud of us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. There. Fuck it.  
> I have long given up trying to have any decisional power over what my hands write.  
> I just had all these snippets in mind and.  
> Really, fuck it.
> 
> Am I the only person who writes purely on instinct? Goddamn.  
> Take this unbeta'ed piece of extremely sefl-indulgent Hika/Aki crap, I don't even know anymore.  
> Hope y'all enjoyed.  
> I just.  
> I dunno.  
> Hi.

Even before opening his eyes, Hikaru already knows Akira is leaning on him over the bed, thanks to the stray strands of hair brushing his face.

“Hikaru…” the other calls softly, with just a hint of a sing-song tone to his voice, “Wake up, Hikaru~”

And even though he knew the week is over and it meant no more dresses, nothing could have prepared the blond for what is in front of him now. It would seem that, somewhere along the way while wearing Lolita dresses, Akira actually developed a fashion sense, or at the very least finally decided to implement the question “do I like what it looks like on me?” in the equation of dressing himself. He’s in a simple plaid button-up shirt, but in squares of blues and greens that don’t clash for once, and it actually compliments his eyes well; and instead of what Hikaru used to call his old-man pants, the ones he is wearing now are slim-fitted and actually accommodate very well the shapes underneath. Add that to the presence of ankle boots instead of moccasins, and the only thing Hikaru disagrees with is the low ponytail Touya gathered most of his hair with, at the nape of his neck.

But that’s more on account of the blond not liking the fact that he can’t run his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair than anything else.

“Holy crap.” It’s not the most eloquent of comments, but conveys the message well enough. “Were you always this hot?”

Despite himself, one of Touya’s hands goes to cover his mouth self-consciously. “I don’t know… am I really?”

Shindou sits up enough to snake his arms around the other’s waist. “I think your old fashion sense was a crime against humanity, considering what it was hiding from the world.” And a quick peck on the lips for emphasis can’t hurt. Akira chuckles against his lips.

“Ouch.” He comments in mock hurt about what his boyfriend said of his old style, but he’s still laughing because yeah, it’s kind of true. He never really cared about looking ‘nice’ as opposed to ‘professional’, because he never really thought looking attractive was something he could do or that concerned him anyway –not like anyone found him attractive, right? Wrong, apparently.

And even putting aside the idea of appealing to others, which is secondary anyway, Akira found that he does like the feeling of looking into the mirror and being pleased with what he sees, so if anything it’s worth putting a little more thought into his style for himself.

If the consequence to this is Hikaru looking at him with barely suppressed desire and kissing him, that’s just an added bonus.

“Go wash up.” He finally says, disentangling himself from the blond, “I’ll wake up Yashiro.”

“No need!” says a sleepy and slightly grumpy voice, “You two already woke me up with your lovey-dovey shit.”

“Sorry about that.” Hikaru says as he gets up, not sounding sorry in the least, “Hey, at least it’s the last time you have to suffer through it for a while!”

“Thank the fucking Maker for that!” and Kyoharu wasn’t really mad about it either, but they’d never get tired of making fun of each other –and they will keep calling themselves the ‘dream-team’ for a long, long time.

 

Predictably, seeing Touya back in masculine clothes is a whole new level of surprise –particularly for the female public, it would seem. The shodan girls who happily ignored Akira in a dress and fawned over either Hikaru and Yashiro are now blushing every time those emerald eyes of his so much turn in their general direction, which amuses Hikaru to no end.

 _‘Sorry ladies, you ain’t getting any of this.’_ The best thing about Touya being back to the menswear section is that he can walk with an arm casually sling around his rival’s shoulders and both look inconspicuous _and_ stake his claim at the same time: those who don’t see it will think they’re just close friends, those who do see it will do well to stay away from his precious Go prince.

Sudden swooning over Touya aside, though, they do turn out to be interesting conversation partners, especially since the young girl that reminded Hikaru so much of his younger self at one point remembered: “Oh! Shindou-kun! I won that game in the end. I absolutely demolished him!”

“You didn’t demolish anything! I still gave you a run for your money!” it’s clearly still a sensitive topic for the boy, and he crosses his arms, while the girl sticks her tongue out at him.

“Well, in the end I walked out with three and a half moku, so keep running, sugarplums~”

“That’s just because you threw me off balance with your suicidal running attack.” He has to concede, eventually, and uncrosses his arms –even though Touya can see the ghost of a smile on his lips, at the recall of what was surely a good game.

The young prodigy decides to speak up. “And that is why you never underestimate a player in a skirt.” He winks at both the shodan players, before turning to the boy in particular, “Running attacks sometimes can look suicidal while they’re stealing the board from under your nose. When you see one, try and think what will happen in the next fifteen hands or so, and base your counter on what you see.”

“Speaking from experience, there, Touya- _sensei_?” Hikaru asks, entirely too smug not to know already –and that’s where Yashiro pipes in:

“To be fair, you do play like you’re out of your freaking mind.”

The blond scoffs. “Says the one who plays first hand Tengen.”

“Shut up! You’re _both_ insane.” That’s Akira smacking both of them upside the head, leading to a string of protests, mostly by Hikaru who laments that Touya should take his side, because being his rival apparently earns him a degree of favouritism.

The two sensei just watch all the youngsters bicker –for once, behaving like the little kids they are– and laugh. Well, Kurata laughs, Seiji tries to hide his content expression behind a cigarette. He hasn’t told the 7-dan what happened the day before, and considering Akira doesn’t seem any worse for the wear, there’s really no reason to notify anyone except his family; especially since his very empathetic  colleague would no doubt be horrified and try to console Touya by making a big deal out of it –which is the _last_ thing the boy needs right now.

Would you look at that. As cynical as he has grown to be, the thought ‘All’s well that ends well’ does sneak its way into his head.

“What’s that face about?” asks the chubby sensei, fixing a confused look on him.

“Nothing…” Seiji shakes his head and throws the cigarette down on the asphalt, stubbing it down with his foot. “These kids are making me soft. Let’s board the train and drop ‘em off before I start letting them call me ‘mom’.”

 

This time around, Akira doesn’t wait to feel ill to lean on Hikaru for comfort –he actually shamelessly flops down on the blonde’s lap, silently demanding to be held.

“No sure, go right ahead I don’t mind.” Shindou says, sarcasm evident in his voice as the other didn’t even ask, but smiling down at him nonetheless. Touya snorts at him.

“Shut up. It’s a mutually beneficial agreement.” He remarks, pointedly nestling himself so he’s looking up at his boyfriend, “I get to sleep off the ride, and you get to pet my hair.”

“I love how you use letting people touch your hair as currency.” Hikaru shakes his head, but does undo the other’s ponytail and take immediate advantage of the offering.

Just beside them, Yashiro nods. “I don’t know, Shindou… it is pretty nice hair, but is it really _that_ nice?”

“And _that_ …” Akira supplies, already half-asleep to Shindou’s fingers carding through his hair, “Is the reason _you_ _don’t_ get to touch my hair.”

 _‘Yes…’_ Hikaru thinks, barely holding back the fond look as he watches his boyfriend slowly drift to sleep, _‘Sassy Touya is definitely one of my favourite Touyas.’_

 

The first thing the young prodigy says, when they reach the station, is, unsurprisingly “Ugh. I hate trains.” And he pointedly stands up and stretches his arms over his head, then running his fingers through his own hair and pulling it all back for a second to redo the ponytail, before letting his fringe and the few side strands not long enough to make it behind his head fall back around his face like a veil. Hikaru vaguely wonders if he’s doing it on purpose to rile him up, but considering Touya’s history in body awareness, it’s very likely that he doesn’t realize yet how much of a walking wet dream that is.

True enough, he’s not much better either, considering he didn’t think he was all that to look at until Akira littered his back with enough nail marks to look like he battled a wild cat, but still. He likes Touya’s new look _very much_. It’s like having to grasp at his confidence  to the very last of it, to pull off a dress, made him twice as confident in masculine attire. Either that, or the subtle sway of hips in his walk is a consequence of a week in heels –Hikaru is not complaining either way, and can’t wait to see what this newfound confidence looks on the goban.

“What are you looking at?” It seems Akira finally caught him staring.

Hikaru bites his lower lip. “I got used to the dresses and billions of layers.” He whispers, “That shirt is driving me crazy.”

The young prodigy simply crosses his arms and smirks back at him. “About damn time you got a taste of your own medicine. Welcome to my world.”

Hikaru obviously takes that as a challenge and promises to utterly destroy him on the goban for that kind of smack talk.

 

The following days are busy and messy, what with the former Meijin’s return to Japan and the whole assault mess to sort over, which is very stressful to take care of swiftly and silently –keeping the media’s nose out of it is a struggle, especially because Akira does have to go to a court hearing to testify, which Hikaru obviously accompanies him to; but luckily all that leaks out is that the young prodigy was assaulted by someone, without any details and just as hearsay.

Hikaru wonders whether he has to thank Amano-san for the lack of written content about it or if it’s just a coincidence that the journalist decided to focus on the two brilliant shin-shodan matches that recently took place _and_ the Honinbou league upcoming preliminaries, basically attracting all the attention on those topics instead –he and Touya will have to deck it out against each other in the third round, so _that_ ’s a fun thing to look forward to.

Kouyo and Akiko have mixed feelings about hearing of their son’s misadventures –on one hand, they’re relieved to learn nothing bad happened to him and that he is safe, on the other hand they’re upset about the risks he ran into and couldn’t help but chastise his carelessness.

That’s an awkward family discussion Shindou didn’t think he’d see.

“But father—” Akira protests over the dinner Hikaru was invited to as a thanks for his unwavering support of their son, “That just proves my point of how much things need to change! People see a skirt and they just think they can do whatever they want to who’s inside. Isn’t that disgusting?”

The topic shifts, and before Shindou knows it they’re talking about sexism and stuff like that and he has to admit that there is an entire array of things he used to take for granted, but of course they eventually shift it back to Go, when Touya recalls what Nase said to them on day 1 and then they start talking about upcoming games and opponents.

Things take a turn for the _very_ awkward when Kouyo catches his son kiss his rival goodbye, as he walked Hikaru out the door, and the blond feels just a little guilty at the idea of having left after dropping such a bomb –but not guilty enough to stay behind and be subjected to the patented ex-Meijin stare.

Which Akira is very much fidgeting under, at the moment.

Kouyo is silent for a long while, just looking at his son as if reading a book, as if his eyes could go straight through, and he takes in everything –Akira’s posture, the different attitude he goes about himself with, and the way he looked and talked when Shindou was around. After a while, he exhales and refocuses his gaze in his son’s eyes. “Are you happy?” he just asks, concise and straight to the point.

Akira is taken aback by the seemingly generic question, but has always known his father is a man of very few words and that the ones he does utter always have a very precise meaning; so he takes his time in pondering his answer, and when he finally does there’s a smile slowly spreading on his lips. “I… yes. I am.”

Kouyo smiles in return. “Good.” And that’s the end of the discussion, as the former Meijin turns and walk away, probably back to his study –man of few words indeed. With that one word, he conveyed the message that he really doesn’t care about Akira’s choice of partners, and that his approval is contingent to Akira’s health and happiness.

The young prodigy can’t help but feel absurdly, disproportionately lucky, and interrupts his father’s retreat with a running hug. “Thanks, dad.” The drop in formality is unusual, but they both let themselves enjoy the peacefulness of being just a father and son.

There’s another thing to thank Shindou about: Akira seems so much more open with his feelings, these days.

 

Upon their return to the usual salons and the Institute, Touya’s new look is even better received than the dresses, with Nase praising his newfound masculine charms and relaxed poise, and a “Goddamn it you can’t be both a genius _and_ good looking. Where’s the divine justice in that?” from Waya that is more amused than actually bitter, but that meets a solemn, cross-armed nod from Honda and a shake of the head from Isumi:

“Guys, he’s not a Barbie doll, you know? You were peeved when you thought he looked bad, and you’re salty now that you think he looks good?” gentle, wise Isumi-san. He’s definitely Akira’s favourite out of all of Hikaru’s friend. “Either make up your mind or mind your own business, Yoshitaka.”

Not even the brunet’s whine of “But Shini~~” is enough to make the older pro indulge Waya, and Touya sees something very familiar in the looks those two are giving each other, but hey. If no one is saying anything, he won’t be the one to start.

The day that he and Shindou do decide to go public goes quite differently from what they expected –as in, it wasn’t planned or even a conscious decision at all. It’s the third round of the Honinbou league games and Hikaru is facing an absolutely ruthless Akira on the goban –funnily enough, having to play go in a dress for a week did make him even stronger in the end: he takes more risks, knows when to push and when to dodge, and is infuriatingly calm in the face of tension. They fight to the last drop of blood all the way through yose, but Hikaru manages to get away with a one-half moku win.

Touya bows his head, and they thank each other for the game; but then, quite strangely for someone who just got kicked off the games for this round, Akira breaks out into a stupidly proud smile and all but lunges at Hikaru, kissing him over the goban for the whole room to see and sending stones scattering when his legs knock against it, while the blond just takes it like he was expecting it.

“Sai would be so proud of you.”

The whisper against his lips makes Shindou fall in love with Akira all over again. “No, he would be proud of _us_.”

Somewhere from a corner, they hear Waya’s voice: “About fucking time!”

They both laugh at that, and Touya finally releases Hikaru, eyes taking on a more predatory glint: “You know this means war, though, don’t you?” he warns, “I’m _so_ going to kick your ass in the Kisei tournament.”

Hikaru wouldn’t have it any other way, really, and just takes his rival’s chin between his fingers to level him with the same predatory stare. “Bring it, doll-face.”

Predictably, the news spreads like wildfire and they soon get labelled the new wave’s “power couple” by GoWeekly –which suits them just fine. It only takes a couple more months for Shindou to move into Touya’s apartment; he’s almost always over anyway, so he might as well just move his stuff in and save himself the transport fare every day.

 

Golden Week gets closer and closer, and Hikaru demands that Akira takes those seven days off together with him. He whisks his rival away after shortly notifying the Institute that they’d be traveling, and brings him to Innoshima.

Neither of them talks about how much the trip feels like a honeymoon; and the first stop is obviously Torajiro’s grave.

“Hey, Torajiro.” The blond talks to the grave, and Akira finally understand where did the habit of talking about him like an old friend come from, “I hope you’re doing well in heaven, and that Sai is there with you playing lots of Go. I’ve been good. Better than ever, actually.” He twines his fingers in Touya’s and smiles softly. “This is Akira.” He says, and Touya suddenly feels irrationally self-conscious, like he’s being formally introduced to his boyfriend’s parents all over again, and instinctively bows slightly. “He is my rival. Sai once said he would turn into a beautiful dragon, back when we were kids.” The blond chuckles, “Guess you were more right than you thought, eh, Sai?”

“That’s where it comes from?!” Touya doesn’t know whether to be embarrassed, flattered or amused. He settles for a mixture of all three and lightly punches Hikaru in the arm. His face softens soon enough, though, and he too turns back to the grave. “I don’t know if you can hear me, Fujiwara-sama, but… thank you, for bringing Hikaru to me.”

“Don’t be so formal to him, he’s gonna get all haughty about it and demand that I use honorifics with him, too.” Shindou jokes, but there’s a faint edge of sadness to his voice –still, being able to share it with Akira does make it better, especially because it’s not just a secret within his own mind anymore, it’s true, tangible proof that Sai did exist, and still does in their Go and everything else they are to each other.

They spend their trip visiting all the historical places and then Hikaru introduces Akira to Shuuhei-san at the salon, leaving the young prodigy to wonder exactly how is it that Hikaru has more friends old enough to be his uncles rather than friends his own age –which is saying something, because the blonde’s circle of acquaintances is distressingly large, at least to Touya’s opinion. Hikaru insists that it’s just because Akira himself is a half-hermit, and they start bickering about proper social behaviour or lack thereof.

They end up getting teased endlessly by Shuuhei-san when Hikaru finally comments “You’re impossible. Sometimes I don’t know whether I wanna punch you or kiss you.” Or rather, Hikaru gets teased, and Touya gets second wind embarrassment because that’s just how he is.

Shindou eventually snaps in his usual way, throwing a “Whatever! I don’t have to listen to you, old man!” and sticking his tongue out; which prompts a laugh from Akira as they leave the place together to go see more sights.

“Hikaru, you’re going to be 21 in September, shouldn’t you stop it with the middle-school faces?”

“Oh, like you’re any better!”

They make their way out, still squabbling about nothing at all, but that’s just how their relationship works –they move forward by butting heads and growing together.

 

It’s late July when a thought crosses Akira’s mind, as he lays on their couch, his head on his boyfriend’s lap and one of Hikaru’s hands comfortingly carding through his even longer hair; while the other holds a kifu Shindou is intently studying. “Hikaru?”

“Hm?”

“You should write a book.”

That’s definitely not what Hikaru was expecting, when he heard the sweet voice Touya usually kept for pillow talk. “Come again? Me? Write a book?” he chuckles, and then rolls up the kifu to pretend it’s a phone. “Hello, nurse? There’s a madman here talking about me writing actual _books_. Yeah, I’ll wait on the line.”

“Hikaru, cut it out.” Akira scolds fondly, knocking the kifu out of his hand, “When will you accept that you’re not as dumb as you think you are?” he asks, just a tiny bit frustrated with his boyfriend’s lack of trust in his own intellect for things that are not Go. Thinking it calls for drastic persuasion tactics, he sits up and climbs around so that he’s now straddling Shindou’s lap, both arms casually swung over the other’s shoulders. “I mean it. You could so totally write a book about Shuusaku. And Sai. Not the whole truth but, you know… history. We could do some research.”

Now, considering it’s July, they’re not wearing much of anything around the house to begin with, but Hikaru still has the sudden thought that, while looking plenty nice in a tank top and gym shorts, Akira would look far better without; still, the conversation and the look Touya is giving him are compelling enough to listen. “Research?” he asks, absently bringing his hands to rest on his partner’s hips.

Touya nods. “Heian era documents are harder to come by than more recent ones, but it’d be worth a shot… if Sai was the emperor’s Go tutor, there might be mentions of him somewhere.” The unfortunate truth that –because he was framed as a cheater and died taking his own life– most of Sai’s official ties with the empire would have been severed, is a thought they both share, during the next few seconds, through a saddened but touched look from Hikaru and an understanding but still hopeful one from Akira.

“Well…” the blond concedes, after a while, “Maybe it’s worth a shot. We’ll see.”

“I love it when you say yes while still pretending you disagree.” Akira kisses him, brief and chaste, “It’s cute.”

“And I hate it when you rope me into doing things through your charms.” Hikaru doesn’t really mean it, though, and lets himself be kissed again and again, while embracing his rival closer.

“Hikaru?” Akira breathes, just as his left hand weaves its way through the prodigy’s silky locks, down the neck and to the shoulders. Shindou loves it, and he loves his voice when it gets like that –having long learned that Touya is really quite cat-like and stroking his hair is a sure-fire way of getting him to melt under his touch.

“Yeah?” he asks in return, not that anything would surprise him at this point.

“…you know, I still have those heels.”

_‘Holy crap.’_

_~the end~_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heel kink is life.
> 
> On a more serious note, I really enjoyed finally getting this out there.  
> I had it in mind for such a long long time, back when the anime and manga were still going on... I was sifting through my hard drive and found a bunch of old files, which included some of my old fanart of Akira in the raven dress and some drafts for the fic and... while it's obviously disproportionately different from what it was in the original idea, I'm still happy I was able to... I dunno, relive the memories?  
> Hikaru no Go is very dear to me because it marks a very dear part of my life, early twenties and first approaches to Cosplay -my first-ever proper 100% handmade cosplay was, unsurprisingly, Fujiwara no Sai- which brought to me some of the dearest friends I ever met and still am in touch with today.  
> And Hikaru and Akira are one of the first couple to ever make me actually emotional about them.  
> So yeah.  
> While it's probably not one of my best works in terms of writing, considering I'm not that good to begin with... take this from what it is -ramblings of an old-school fan getting a bit sentimental.
> 
> Also, I love the idea the preface and notes in Hikaru's book being irreverent and disconnected like the crap I write, and Akira yelling at him that he can't write things like that in a 'proper' book and bringing upon himself to be his editor.  
> Adorable dorks.  
> Well, then.  
> Thanks for sticking around.  
> Bye.  
> Till next time.


End file.
